Deliver Me from Evil
by Mr.BAN91
Summary: Sequel to 'Drag Me to Hell'. When his friend is found brutally murdered, the angel Elaiel decides to investigate what happened and find the killer to take revenge.
1. Prologue

Hello there and welcome to my new story, a sequel story to the movie "Drag Me to Hell". I have wanted to do this ever since the movie came out in 2009 but never got around to it. Nothing more to say actually. I leave you now and hope you'll enjoy this.

Disclaimer: I do now own "Drag Me to hell" nor do I wish to do so.

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PROLOGUE

The wind was blowing gently that night. It whirled the falling leaves, splitting them in every direction of the driveway. Though it was still rather warm, the cool nuances of autumn were making their presence known, introducing the chilling setting that was about to overcome the flaming summer heat. The lamp post lit neighborhood was pretty quiet, only the sound of rustling leaves disturbing this serene atmosphere.

Christine's mind could not leave what had happened at Rham Jas's place. Although what he had told her sounded insane, she could not dismiss it as a lie. Perhaps the fact that she was still under shock and tired after a long day was fueling her imagination and paranoia. One thing was for certain, she needed to relax. She was going to finish some registries for work and have a nice meal before going to bed. Clay had made sure she got in her house safe before running off to clear paperwork with the towing company that still had her car. After he left, the quietness resumed… but it did not last long…

All of a sudden, a dark gloom was in the air. Shadows danced around chaotically and several of the lamp posts started to flicker. All birds flew from the location, all insects fled away, and dogs began to bark frantically, as if feeling something unnatural and unclean approaching.

In front of Christine's house, on the street, stepped a blonde, tall woman, with long hair and a gorgeous visage. Many men would describe her appearance as stunningly beautiful. She only wore what appeared to be a long, white robe but nothing else. Though she was quite a sight, her expression was worried and pale, as if she had the same negative feeling as all the animals that were behaving fearsomely around her. Her eyes focusing completely forward, she was standing still, not moving even a muscle, as if paralyzed by what she was gazing upon.

In front of her, in the sky above the valley in which the city lay, an enormous black cloud was fast approaching, lit on the inside by flashes of lightning. The scope and size of the vaporous mass was quite colossal, overwhelming.

The woman knew what it was, why it was coming here and that it was not going to stop until it would get what it wanted. But she could not flee like the birds, she had to stand her ground and face head on the approaching monstrosity. It was her duty to protect Christine, at all costs. And so, with a mere thought, she spread luminescent, white wings behind her. They radiated light in all direction, shinning as brightly as they could to counteract the immense darkness of the cloud. Two small pieces detached themselves from the wings and flew into the woman's hands, turning into swords. Adopting a fighting stance as her eyes also reflected the same light as her wings, she was ready to fight.

The cloud was almost right on top of her. But before doing anything else, part of it began to mold into a goat's head, but with more humanistic features such as a nose and mouth.

"Give me strength, father." The woman prayed as she saw the face in the clouds. She was horrified.

"You cannot stop me!" The cloud creature roared, its deep voice echoing chills of terror in the woman's heart. Then, a giant clawed hand blasted out of the vaporous mass and grabbed her by the throat. Outpowered, she discovered that she could not do anything to set herself free of the beast's grasp. It lifted her in the air, bringing her mere inches away from its head. Pointlessly she tried to struggle, her movements only tightening the grip of the hand.

The goat creature grinned, revealing its sharp fangs and its delight at seeing her squirm like a defenseless maggot. Then, in just a second, it roared gruesomely and lunged at her…

The woman lay on the street but her body was ripped into pieces and shredded, scattered into several places like a macabre decoupage. Christine's scream of fright in her house pierced the comforting silence of the once peaceful night…

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The first chapter is on its way. Until then, may fortune guide your journey.


	2. Chapter I: Elaiel

Hello guys and here we are with chapter I, where we meet the main character, the angel Elaiel. You'll find out more about him in this chapter and the ones that will follow. I also hope you'll have patience and wait, I promise you Christine and other characters from the movie will appear. Especially Lamia, who is the main antagonist. Anyways, enough talk. On with the chapter.

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CHAPTER I – ELAIEL

It appeared very simple. All Elaiel had to do was grab the chalice a few feet in front of him. It was just laying there, on a rock lodged in the ground. It was so close he might have well walked over and taken it without any trouble. But he knew it was not as easy as it seemed.

No doubt the others were hiding behind the trees. The forest he found himself in was rather quiet and dull, only the birds chirping from above and the river streaming nearby could be heard. His surroundings were still and peaceful, yet Elaiel knew it was a distracting illusion. He could sense the others nearby as much as he could tell there were birds in the trees. And for sure, they were going to try and stop him from getting to the silver chalice which was his objective. "Try" as far as he was concerned.

Elaiel was confident and determined. Standing at about 6 feet 3 inches, with short brown hair and dark-hazel eyes, well chiseled face features and a striking jaw line, he had a highly athletic body figure, enforced by his protruding arm and leg muscles. He appeared to be ready for a battle, for he was covered by a cuirass and a skirt of stripes completed by a special kind of armor plated boots, light enough for extreme mobility.

As said before, he was confident and very ambitious to accomplish his tasks. Failure was not an option, a principle he generally guided himself by. That is why he was not going to let the others stop him. He was going to get that chalice.

Just before he could place his first step, another man, wearing the same kind of armor, suddenly appeared from behind the treeline and lunged at him with a flying kick. Elaiel successfully dodged it by jumping back. The man then placed himself between the other and the chalice. "Sorry, my friend." He said while smiling. "Can't let you do it.'

"Very well." Elaiel responded in the same witty manner. Afterward, he attacked his adversary, engaging in hand to hand combat. It was a short fight for Elaiel quickly dispatched his opponent and found himself with a clear path between him and the chalice. But it was only the beginning. Not only a woman jumped from a tree and landed right in front of him, his foot was also gripped by a hand coming out of the ground, immobilizing him. Taking advantage of his distraction, the woman decided to strike him down with a sidekick. Seeing this, Elaiel ducked but at the same time received a huge blow to his jaw from another hand that burst out of the ground. It belonged to a second woman that was buried beneath him and who was now unearthing herself to join the fight.

Before Elaiel could compose himself, he found his legs swept of the ground by his first adversary whom he thought was out of the picture. On the ground, Elaiel had no time to catch his breath for he rolled over to avoid being violently trampled. He returned on his feet with a masterfully made straight-leg kip which managed to knock down his pursuer. The two women immediately charged him, giving him no pause to regroup. Sidestepping their attacks, he turned around to face them while adopting his fighting stance. The two were holding their ground as the other male individual joined them. Elaiel was up against three opponents that were standing in his way. Although he knew he was in for quite the skirmish, he trusted that he was eventually going to get past them.

And so it began, with all four of them displaying agility, speed and fast reflexes while performing spectacular combat moves. Elaiel in particular, whose drive was pushing him to exceed his limits and easily take out his attackers. At this rate, the chalice was going to be his, he thought as he used a spinning heel kick to remove one of the women out of his way. But it was not like that.

A fourth attacker, standing on a branch of one of the trees, released a white energy ball out of his hand that exploded upon hitting Elaiel's chest, sending him on his back several feet from where he was standing. Raising his head to see what had occurred, he noticed the man on the branch smiling and waving at him. Getting on his feet to return the favor, he was stopped by one of the women who waved a sword at him. Dodging the blade, Elaiel proceeded to take advantage of her slow movements and go around her, kicking her back to knock her out.

Quickly remembering about the man in the tree, Elaiel turns his sight to him, only to notice that he had thrown another energy ball at him. However, very adroitly, Elaiel managed to envelop the luminescent attack in his hands, being careful not to touch it, and with a swift rotation of his body, he launched it back at the man in the tree with even more momentum than before. This time, the latter suffered the full impact of the blow and lifelessly fell to the ground.

Elaiel's remaining two opponents, although attacking him with swords, did not manage to accomplish much and got easily kicked out of the fight. "This is it." He thought while running to the chalice. He was going to win, no doubt about it. He got to it and extended his hand to take it.

But someone had other plans. A flash of white light passed in front of him, taking the chalice before pushing him back. It all went down in just the blink of an eye. Elaiel searched to discover what had happened. He saw one of the women with the chalice in her hand. But she was different. Her bright, luminescent, angelic wings were fully spread and her eyes glowed with the same kind of light.

Elaiel knew that she had utilized her supernatural, native speed. She was the flash of white light. "So we're going to play it like that, huh?" he asked a bit irritated. Then, he materialized his own wings and in a split second, disappeared, turning too in a white flash. The woman made herself scarce in the same way. The others followed.

It was a magnificent spectacle. They were moving so fast that they were covering vast acres of forest in milliseconds, their presence being betrayed only by small flickers of light. Even so, a human barely could catch a glimpse of them.

This time, however, they were using their full angelic abilities, launching all sorts of energy attacks and using telekinesis, pyrokinesis and many more of such supernatural skills to accomplish their objective. Up in the sky, another man, more elderly looking, was watching how the forest was being devastated by their enormous power. Yet he did not intervene, continuing to observe the fight and study the angels' every move. He could see them, even at such velocities, and he was not happy of what he was seeing.

Working as a team, the four angels decided to test Elaiel's limits even more. They began to pass the chalice to each other while keeping their opponent busy by attacking him with everything they had. But Elaiel did not buy the bait. Instead of going after the one with the chalice, he turned his attention to the others, taking them down one by one, so that in the end, he would only have to deal with just the one angel left.

Said and done. Only one of the women remained in the fight and she had the chalice in her hands. Elaiel took advantage that her strategy was simply to run and devised an easy solution to stop her. He placed himself in her path and merely extended his foot to force her to stumble and fall. And to his excitement, it worked. Given the speed she had, inertia made her fall to be carried out upon a distance of three miles, dragging down trees and creating a huge crater in her wake. Naturally, while falling, she dropped the chalice from her hands.

Elaiel knew the fight was over. He was sure the others were out of the fight and the woman she just tripped could not hope to stop him all by herself. This time, it was finally over. As he walked to the chalice, he began to consider that a mere fall was not going to stop the woman. He had to make sure she was going to pose no threat anymore. He turned to her, in the large hill of earth that managed to finally halt her crash. She looked at him. Elaiel raised his hand, focusing an energy attack at her.

"Oh come on!" She let out, frustrated, before being incapacitated by his incandescent light strike.

Now it was time for Elaiel to collect his prize. Finally, he repeated in his head as he got closer to the silver object. There was not anyone anymore to stop him, the path was clear and his victory was at hand. He could feel it, smell it, taste it. He leaned down to grasp it…

The man in the air closed his eyes in disappointment…

One of the two male angels that had worked against Elaiel, half came out of the chalice, training the blade of his sword right at Elaiel's neck.

"Disengage!" The elderly looking man said. At that point, everyone knew it was all over.

"Sorry Elaiel," the male angel with the sword expressed with genuine sympathy.

Elaiel now understood what had occurred. While he was busy making sure the angel woman was out of the fight, his male opponent took advantage of his inattention and snuck inside the chalice, lying in wait to make his move.

The elderly man landed next to them. "You cannot accomplish your objective when you're dead," he addressed Elaiel with scorn. The angel from the chalice put his sword away and fully came out of the object. The other two also arrived and began helping the woman in the crash site. "Thanks Elaiel!" She spat sarcastically while being carried away. "I'm going to get you for that!"

As for Elaiel, the notion that he failed was fully installing itself in his mind and he was becoming aware of it more and more. His victory was robbed, just like that, in a split of a second. And he was so confident he was going to win too. Not a single doubt in his mind. The way he lost vexed him greatly. If he would have been vanquished in combat, it would have been more acceptable. But this... this was so humiliating. He was feeling his anger rising especially after the heat of the battle he went through. He wanted to shout, hit everyone and everything in his path until a glimmer of satisfaction would make itself known. But that wasn't him. He was not the one to succumb to such rage and was not about to start now.

The elder man spoke to him again. "I'm afraid you'll have to repeat the trial Elaiel."

The words hit his heart like a battering ram. They were exactly what he did not want to hear.

"Until you pass, you will never be granted acceptance into the ranks of the Elites. I will summon you to my office for rescheduling. Dismissed."

The elder man began walking away.

"Don't worry, my friend," the male angel told Elaiel. "I'm sure you'll do it next time."

Not minding him, Elaiel proceeded to run to catch up with the elder male individual.

"Sir, if I may, I would like to ask for a review."

The elder does not stop walking. "There is nothing to be reviewed. You're a great soldier Elaiel, you'll pass the trial eventually. I am not concerned."

Sensing that he is not being particularly honest and answering only for the sake of it, Elaiel places himself in his interlocutor's path, stopping him. "Sir, please!"

Realizing he cannot dismiss him, the old man sighed, cleared his throat and looked him straight in the eye. "You're an accomplished warrior, Elaiel. You're strong, fast, resourceful, cunning, you got good instincts, you act quickly and decisively in battle and you're a good reader, you know how to size up your opponent and draw out his weaknesses…"

"But" Elaiel jumped, knowing that negative criticism is about to follow.

"But you lose track of the bigger picture and it makes you fail right at the end. Just like today. You get lost in all these minor details and they drag you down. It's like… It's like you're almost at the top of the hill but just before you reach it, you lose your balance and fall. You must learn to focus on your main objective and not let other things interfere with it."

Elaiel acknowledged the truth in his words. If he had not stopped to take care of that woman angel and would have instead just picked up the chalice, he would have won. But what if she would have been the one to prevent him from achieving victory because of his failure to finish her off? How could he have known what to do? So many variables and so many complications frustrated him. It seemed as if passing this final trial was impossible.

"I shall try harder next time and be more focused." Elaiel added, reluctantly agreeing the result of it all. "I'll do better next time."

"I'm sure you will." The elder man completed before continuing on his path, leaving Elaiel to contemplate on the review he was given.

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During his off duty time, Elaiel preferred to practice, keep his powers and skills in fine tune, and maintain the edge of his instincts so that he would always be prepared for worst case scenarios. It had become a routine for him, after he had decided to constantly work hard and push himself to be ready in order to pass the Elites trials with flying colors. Sometimes, when he was not practicing, he chose to meditate in solitude. He had found that it helped him replenish his energy faster and freshen his state of mind. Other times, he would simply meet with his friends and engage in numerous conversations at the local tavern near their garrison. He enjoyed their company very much and cared for them greatly.

Naturally, after his failure to pass the trial, he would be in the Throne Hall of the Celestial Palace, the confinement where God used to reside and rule before he had left. Every time he would find himself in difficult situations such as this, he would go there to seek peace of mind and comfort. He felt the closest to his Father there and, even with the Almighty One's absence, he had always received the consolation he had sought.

However, he couldn't afford to be alone with his thoughts right now. They would overwhelm him with blame, guilt and self-loathing. He needed to be distracted and what better way to do that than by spending time with his friends?

Which happened to be the same angels he fought for the chalice. All of them were sitting at a table at the local tavern near their garrison, each one consuming their ordered beverage. They felt him being down and immediately rushed to lift his spirits.

"You're giving yourself too much of a hard time, Elaiel." The woman he tripped on the battlefield encouraged him. "You failed now, next time you'll succeed."

"Yeah," the angel who caused his loss agreed. "And it's not like that 'Elite' position is going anywhere. It's yours. You just need to get through this final trial and that's it."

"Guys, I appreciate your words but really, I'm okay. I'll beat you next time, you'll see."

"Well," the other woman added, raising her drink. "Cheers to that."

They all knocked their glasses, toasting to the future success of their friend.

They continued discussing, both separately and as a whole, taking advantage of their spare time as much as possible. Their presence not only helped Elaiel forget about his loss, but he felt so good he began to anticipate his next try at passing the final trial with positivity and excitement. He was eager to demonstrate that he deserved to be an Elite.

At one point, one of them saw the newly arrived male individual, who just walked through the tavern's door. His expression turned to admiration and reverence as he could not help but wave the others' attention to the newcomer. Although reluctant to mind him, they all turned to see who it was. Pretty soon they discovered that their friend was right to act in such a frenzied way.

The newcomer was none other than Archangel Uriel, Supreme General of the Celestial Host's Military Detachment on Earth and a member of the Celestial High Council. One of the most powerful angels in Heaven, his mere presence commanded respect and authority. An accomplished veteran and a war hero, he led millions of successful campaigns against the forces of darkness and prevailed every time. Possessing the figure of a human male passed his thirties, he had the same athletic features as Elaiel's, and the same physical characteristics, but more timely and aged. He elegantly wore a robe with emphatic golden lines at its extremities, a sign of higher rank and status, and his feet were covered by sandals. It was the general attire of all angels in their native home.

If Elaiel was to have a role model, it would be Uriel. He had great admiration for the archangel and often daydreamed about becoming as good as he was. He had never met him face to face before, seeing him only at conventions and gatherings, where he would deliver one of his inspiring speeches. He always wished he could talk to him and ask for advice and suggestions. But, as he had never got the chance, he resigned to just passively worshipping him as a hero, like a human child does with comic book figures.

"I'm going to call him over," the male angel who first saw him confessed.

"Are you crazy, Manael!" "No!" "Don't even think about it, Manael!" the others jumped on him.

"Fine, alright, relax you pussies." He fought back annoyed. But right after that, seeing everyone calmed, he suddenly got up and waved enthusiastically. "General Uriel, over here, grab a seat!"

Elaiel and the others did not know what to do to hide better from the embarrassment that struck them down. Heeding Manael's call, Uriel walked to them, holding a chair from one of the other tables to sit down. "I'm going to boil you in molten lava and eat you so I can defecate you like a human would and repeat the process over again." One of the women threatened the one who summoned the Archangel. Everyone got up and saluted Uriel. They were now keeping their guard fully up, carefully filtering every thought to not say or do something that could embarrass them or even worse, discriminate them in front of their superior.

"As you were," he said to them. They quickly obeyed.

"Shall I get you a drink, sir?" Manael inquired, avoiding the wrathful stares of his friends.

"I'm fine, thank you. I needed to get out of my office for a bit, clear my head of everything."

If angels could blush, Elaiel would be doing it right now despite all his resistance, standing so close to his idol. Nevertheless, he managed to compose himself and ask a pertinent question. "Busy day, huh?"

"Yes. Running all the operations on Earth can sometimes become grueling. But I didn't come here to talk about that. Tell me, how are you lot doing?"

"We've just participated in a final trial for the Elites today," one of the female angels answered.

"Yes" the other male angel completed. "For Elaiel here."

"Oh yes," Uriel expressed recognition. "I've heard about you. You're one of our most promising warriors. How did it go?"

A shame that hearing Uriel praising him would have to end in his learning of his failure. His words boosted his self-confidence sky-high. Ironically that he himself was the one to bring it back down by answering the question.

"He… kind of… failed." Manael stepped in.

In a way, Elaiel was glad that he had been spared to respond. Yet he knew he had to brace himself for whatever Uriel had to say next. Hearing his role model criticize or speak harshly of him right after his fresh loss was going to be very unpleasant.

"I see." Uriel replied calmly. "Well we all make mistakes. What matters is how we use them to learn and do better next time. Anything beyond that is self-pity and that's… well, it's not productive." Afterward, he turned to Elaiel. "You don't have to be perfect. Just be good when it matters."

And just like that, Elaiel had witnessed firsthand why Uriel was such a great leader and an invaluable presence for anyone in a tough situation. Not only had he offered constructive criticism, he had also taken a high amount of pressure from his shoulders, making it so simple but so true.

"But seriously now," the archangel added with a somber tone and grave expression "you better not screw up next time. We can't hold that free spot in the Elites forever, you know!"

At that point, everyone from the table froze. Elaiel's rounded smile was quickly deflated like a balloon that was losing air.

After several more seconds of pause, Uriel broke the silence, chuckling, "I'm kidding, relax." The other angels, as if awakening from a catatonic state, commenced to laugh. They were doing it more out of anxiousness than hilarity, not wishing to offend their leader. But as soon as they saw him genuinely being amused, they laid their fear aside and allowed themselves to be more opened to the archangel sitting with them at the table like an equal.

As time passed, they completely let their guard down and enjoyed his company. Especially Elaiel, who had never thought that Uriel could be so informal and laid-back with his fellow soldiers. He realized how much more he was than just a simple leading rank in the angelic army with many titles. He was opened to the camaraderie of his subordinates and was not squeamish about walking among them like one of them. He truly was worthy of everyone's respect.

During a conversation, Uriel appeared to be distracted, looking down, seeming that he was paying close attention to something.

"What is it, sir?" One of the female angels showed curiosity.

"Getting the latest casualty reports from Earth," the archangel answered, referring that he was receiving the report via telepathy.

"Who did we lose?" Manael inquired concerned.

"Reviel and Ahziel."

Upon hearing the last name, Elaiel stopped abruptly, with his beverage glass half-way to his mouth. "Did you say Ahziel?"

"Yes. Why?"

But Elaiel did not respond. He just stood there, eyes wide opened, not even a blink to cover them. He felt his heart stabbed in the most painful way possible. He could not breath, he could not move, he could not make the tiniest of sounds. He was like a statue, emotionless, pale, and it frightened his friends to their very core.

"Elaiel," the other female angel, who was standing next to him, tried to reach him. "Elaiel, please, you're scaring us." But to no avail. He remained frozen and still.

"I take it he knew Ahziel." Uriel deduced, addressing the others.

"She was his closest friend." Manael shed light.

"She wasn't just his closest friend, you asshole." The angel woman trying to wake Elaiel up intervened. "She was the love of his life." – turning to him, with tears in her eyes – "Elaiel, please, say something!"

At that point, he squeezed the glass in his hand so tight that it shattered into dozens of pieces, which fell on the table and on the floor, accompanied by the drink inside. Just in the same way Elaiel felt his life falling down, with nothing to stop it. The sharp sound of the breaking glass startled his friends. They had never seen him act like this and it was getting them worried beyond their limits.

Suddenly, surprising everyone, he got up from his seat. "I need to see her" he spoke with a blank expression and started walking toward the exit. Uriel and his friends were right behind him…

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The next chapter will be a two parter and will be the last before we get to the real action of this story. Hope you enjoyed this one and see you next time.


	3. Chapter II: Shattered Glass (part 1)

Hey guys and welcome to the two-parter that is chapter II. Things go spiralling down from here. Let's tune into part 1 and see how it goes.

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CHAPTER II – SHATTERED GLASS (part 1)

Ahziel's body had been brought to heaven as soon as it had been discovered, kept in a temporary room until cremation, which was the custom done to all angels who had fallen in battle. It was now in one piece, having been patched up with the help of celestial supernatural power, lying on a small bed and dressed with an immaculate white robe. She would stay there for some time in order for the angels that had known her to come and pay their respects and farewells, quite very similar to the human 'wake' tradition. But silence was her only companion.

Up until the door flew wide open. Elaiel was the first to step in the room, followed by his four friends and Archangel Uriel.

As soon as he saw Ahziel's lifeless corpse, he could not help but burst into tears, barely refraining to fully cry. "Ahziel…" he sobbed, overwhelmed by an enormous amount of pain. "What happened? What did you do?" He approached her and grasped her hand in his own, stroking it gently. Tears poured down on his cheeks and into his mouth. Their salty taste contributed to all the sorrow that was taking its toll on him. He raised his view to her face and it destroyed him. It destroyed him to see her so silent, so pale, so motionless. She, who had accustomed him every time with her rants, her eyes looking at him and charming him all the time, the constant waving of her hair, her warm, affectionate touch, her gentle but jovial spirit… And now, all that was gone. He would never see her eyes again, he was never going to experience her touch or hear the sound of her voice. The voice that had always understood, the compassionate voice that offered so much comfort, so much peace, so much tenderness… It had been silenced forever. Elaiel couldn't feel any lonelier.

"She died in battle," Uriel said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "There is no greater honor for an angel. If you need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to contact me."

Uriel then left. The others, one by one, followed his gesture and departed, leaving Elaiel alone, to mourn in peace, undisturbed. There was nothing else they could do for him.

Elaiel sat at her side for a while, before beginning restlessly pacing around the room, agitated and consumed by grief. He could not withstand it, the pain turning him inside out. He struggled to find a solution to end it. He even contemplated turning back time and saving her and he would have done it too if angels had any control over time. He grew so desperate that he almost ripped his hair off. If he were a mere human, the strain would have simply knocked him unconscious. He wished it was so. At least the pain would stop in that way. But he was an angel, he could not fall asleep like that. He was forced to endure this constant torture on and on.

He remained in that room until the angels responsible came in to take her to be cremated. Without sketching the slightest facial movement, he lethargically followed them. They reached a white room with human-sized pod standing at the center. All of Elaiel's friends were there, showing their full support and loyalty to him and to his lost loved one. He did not notice them, however. He barely looked at Ahziel, staring blankly into utter nothingness.

The angels who had carried her there lifted her body from the bed and placed it in the pod. Then one of them, with a hand gesture, used his telekinesis to seal her inside by closing what appeared to be a hermetically shut door. Afterward, he spanned the pod to face a certain direction, before causing a round entrance to open in front of it. Beyond radiated an encompassing white light that shined as bright as any angel's wings. He waved his hand at the pod, as if he pushed it forward. It proceeded to move in the same manner, slowly heading toward the round entrance. When it entered, the light began to glow even brighter, as if opening its arms to receive Ahziel's body. Watching the pod slowly disappearing beyond the entrance, Elaiel knew a part of himself was going in there with Ahziel, and was never going to return…

/|\

Setiel was preparing his tea. The old angel had a ton of paperwork to do and he had fallen behind schedule as well. If he would not finish the reports in front of him soon, he was going to receive a non-conformity for sure. And that was the last thing he needed. An ugly stain on a rather spotless record. He poured the hot water on the leaves in his mug and grabbed it so he could take it to his desk. His rush almost made him fall and spill his entire drink. And he needed that drink if he was going to write so many reports.

As soon as he sat down at his desk, his assistant telepathically contacted him to tell him he had a visitor, Elaiel. He spitefully mumbled for being interrupted and gave word for his subordinate to come in.

He got the standard salute from Elaiel after he had walked in. "What can I do for you, Elaiel?" He asked while starting to write his first report.

"I would like to request a leave of absence, sir."

Hearing this, Setiel raised his eyes from his papers. "A leave of absence? Elaiel, you still have a final trial to pass! This is no time to be taking leaves of absence. Out of the question!"

"Sir, with all due respect, I plead you to reconsider."

"Elaiel, this is totally unacceptable and unprofessional. What the hell are we going to tell the Review Board? Do you realize the kind of penalties we'd be subjected when they'll discover we have wasted their time like this?"

"I don't care, sir!"

Setiel opened his mouth in shock of what he heard. "Well you better care. You better care because not only they'll suspend your application to the Elites, they might terminate your service as well. I seriously don't know what the hell has gotten into you Elaiel, but you seriously need to reconsider this, if you know what's good for you."

"Just do it!" Elaiel barked hitting the desk with his fist.

The elder angel jumped out of his seat, severely irritated. "Get out! Get the hell out now and be thankful I'm not writing your ass a letter of reprimand as big as your entire record!"

Realizing he had no chances of success there, Elaiel heeded his superior's orders and walked out of the room. Indeed, he had lost his control back there but it did not matter to him. He had to go forward with what he wanted and there was another card to play to achieve his goal.

/|\

"There he is." Aella, one of Elaiel's female friends told the others after having had spotted him walking down the pathway near barracks 6. It had been a while after Ahziel's cremation since they had seen him and they were more than worried regarding his state of mind and health.

The four began to approach him and in no time, caught up to him.

"Hey stranger." Sira, the other female angel addressed him. "Haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

"Good," he answered in the most indifferent way possible, continuing on his path.

Although a bit taken aback by such a response, they weren't discouraged and decided to press on.

"We were thinking of hurdling over some mountain peaks later." Manael stepped in. "Wanna' join?"

"No." Elaiel offered the same type of answer.

"We could go hang out at the tavern." Repel, the second male angel suggested.

"Not interested, busy."

In a way, they were expecting such behavior. Still grieving, still in shock, whatever the reasons, they were sound and logical. They considered that perhaps it would be better if they would give him some more space before attempting to draw him out.

"Just don't forget to let us know you exist, alright? We are here for you." Sira threw, flustered by his cold and apathetic reactions. She immediately realized, especially after inspecting everyone else's expression, that it had not been her finest moment.

In that second, Elaiel turned to them with a vexed disposition. "Who the hell told you I needed you to be here, huh?"

"Hey." Repel intervened. "We're just trying to make sure you're okay."

The only effect his words had appeared to anger Elaiel even more. "Why don't you go straight to hell, perhaps that way you'll finally leave me alone and I won't hear your pathetic voice any longer!" Then, he proceeded to shove Repel. The latter shoved him back while the others rapidly got between them to avoid a brawl.

"It's not fair! It's not fair!" Repel shouted, barely held back by Manael. "Why does our friendship have to pay for her death?"

"I'll show you 'pay'! Let go of me!" Elaiel yelled, trying to set himself free from Aella and Sira's hold.

"Stop it both of you!" Manael sought to contain the situation but it was pointless.

Eventually, Elaiel broke free of his two female friends. "I don't need this crap." He gestured dismissively, turning around and leaving.

"Yeah that's right, walk away." Repel declared peremptorily. "See if I care." The other three watched Elaiel departing with serious concern over him, unsure if he needed intervention or just to be left alone.

/|\

"I heard what happened near barracks 6 with your friends." Uriel spoke to Elaiel in his usual calm demeanor. The latter wasn't surprised that the archangel found out so quickly. "Don't mean to be judge and jury over here but that's probably how you lose friends."

Elaiel did not say anything, standing perfectly still in the 'attention' position. After his quarrel with Repel and the others, he resumed on heading to what was his destination all along: Uriel's office. If Setiel was not going to allow his leave of absence, maybe the Archangel might.

"But then again," the superior ranking angel continued "that's not why you're here, is it?"

"No sir. I'm here to request a leave of absence, sir. For personal reasons."

"I understand." Uriel reacted with no surprise whatsoever. "So just like that, you're going to throw away your chance at becoming an Elite? All the hard work you've done, all the sacrifices, all the drive and passion you put into it… You're just going to throw all of it out the window like that?"

Elaiel remained silent.

"You're going after her killer, aren't you? I mean, why else would someone just drop and discard everything in their life, risk losing close friends and a great career opportunity? The only motivation I find strong enough to do that is pure vengeance."

Again, Elaiel was not surprised of his leader's deductive abilities. And it wasn't like the most mysterious secret in Heaven, considering how the General had witnessed him breaking down at the news of Ahziel's death.

Uriel took pause for several seconds, as if contemplating on what decision to take, and then stated. "Very well, I shall give you your request for leave of absence. I assume you realize that there will be no back-up. You go on this mission… you'll be on your own."

"Don't need any, sir."

Uriel was concerned. "Elaiel, vengeance is a very powerful emotion. Many who have come across it got consumed by it and ended up down a path not far from damnation. Be careful not to drown in it because there is no way of return."

Only mimicking that he paid attention to his words, Elaiel thanked him and got dismissed. Before exiting Uriel's office, he was stopped by the archangel's voice. "And Elaiel? Get the son of a bitch who did that to her! Good hunting."

And with that, as eager as he could be, Elaiel spread his light wings while his robe attire got replaced by his armor suit, and in an instant, disappeared, taking off to Earth. Uriel had been right. The only thing he wanted now, his most important and single drive was to catch Ahziel's killer and end his life in the most excruciating way possible. It was the sole purpose that was keeping him alive…

* * *

Part 2 wil be coming soon. Tell me what you think will happen. See you next time!


	4. Chapter II: Shattered Glass (part 2)

Welcome back, ladies and gents to the second part of the second chapter. We will be picking up eight where we left off, with Elaiel beginning the hunt for his lover's killer, very much obsessed with revenge. At the end, the real journey begins. Hope you'll enjoy this one.

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CHAPTER II – SHATTERED GLASS (part 2)

Elaiel had one method to start his investigation on who killed Ahziel, his supernatural sense. And he was going to use it to its full extent to uncover the truth. He was not going to stop at nothing to achieve his task. In his normal state, he was a very ambitious and determinate angel, using everything at his disposal to get the job done. But now, he was verging near obsession, fueled by revenge, turning into an emotionless machine, a missile locked on target.

He arrived at the scene of the crime, the driveway in the Los Angeles suburb. It was daylight, and the sun was shining brighter than usual today. Being in limbo, the metaphysical realm imperceptible to natural senses, the humans passing by, either on foot or in their cars, could not see him. This was the place, he told himself. Then, he breathed deeply, closed his eyes, as if he was deeply focusing his thoughts toward achieving something and began approaching the very same spot Ahziel spent her last moments.

When he opened his eyes, his angelic light emanated from them. He trained his hand to the ground to confirm what his senses were telling him: she had been in this exact place before she had died. He leaned down, touching the ground with his palm. Suddenly, he started getting in rapid flashes visions of what had transpired there in the past. Ahziel standing there, armed and ready for battle, being swept off her feet by something or someone and finally, her screaming of pain.

At that point, he stopped the vision, being taken aback by seeing her again. His senses also provided him with glimpses of how she had felt during those moments. She was scared, terrified, but yet firm on her ground and brave. He could feel her will to face whatever was causing her fright despite being almost paralyzed by fear. She had been brave until the end and it tore him apart that she had died alone, without anyone by her side. He should have been there with her…

There was another thing he had sensed beside her feelings. His vision also made him aware of a very dark entity that had been present that night. Elaiel could feel its warped energies. Certainly, that was the killer. He tried to look deeper but was stopped. "Damn it" he let out, unable to see further into the vision and discover the killer's identity. His senses could not provide any further information. He needed to dig more to get the full scope of why and what had happened. He had to learn why Ahziel had been there that night.

/|\

Elaiel knew that Ahziel was serving under the Guardian corps. She was a guardian angel but he did not know to whom she had been assigned. Therefore, he travelled back to heaven, to the logistics department to find out which human she had the duty to protect.

He reached a large hall filled with millions of file cabinets. Near the door, was the angel serving as clerk, behind a wooden counter. Several others were in between the cabinets, checking and clearing files and maintaining proper order and documents' compliance.

Elaiel approached the counter and asked: "I'm looking for the file of Ahziel, recently KIA."

"Well, do you have the necessary clearance? Because without proper authority, I am not allowed to let you see any file."

"I have authority. I'm coming on behalf of General Uriel himslef" Elaiel decided to play this card.

"I understand that but I will still have to check with him before anything."

"Please" Elaiel's tone began to denote impatience. "I just need to know which human she had been assigned to guard."

"I'm sorry but that information is strictly classified! Just let me contact…"

Elaiel reached out beyond the counter, grabbed him by his robe and slammed him against the wall. "Do I look like I'm in the mood to be turned down" he angrily barked. "Give me the damn name!"

All the other angels present there immediately turned their attention to the two.

"Alright, alright, I'll give it to you" the clerk replied with a shaky voice, visibly shaken by the other's violent behavior. Elaiel let him go so he could grab Ahziel's file and tell him what he wanted. He did not care that he caused quite the scene and acted irrationally. He would have done worse. Nothing was going to stand in his way.

/|\

The full moon looked like a giant yellow ball that night, impressing every eye which gazed upon it. It dominated the sky and outshone the glimmering stars that were barely keeping up the pace. It seemed more alive than ever with its translucent glow beaming down upon the Earth and creating an impressive rift toward the upcoming twilight.

Elaiel was sitting on the peak of a tall tree, staring at it intently.

"Here we are again! Just the two of us, nobody else, just like always. Just laughing and flying in the night's sky, never stop flying, not then, not now. Remember? Nothing's changed now. We're still flying, still soaring through those clouds like two crazy angels, right till the end." – smiling, though tears were flowing down his cheeks – "You know, I'm going to find whoever got you and when I do…" – smile faded away - "I'm going to carve your name into him. Carve it really deep…"

/|\

Ahziel had been assigned to guard a female human named Christine Brown. She had recently died, falling on the tracks in front of an incoming train. She had been no more than thirty years of age, working as a loan officer at a Los Angeles bank and living alone. She had a stable income and benefited from a decent living. Also, she had been seeing someone, a man by the name of Clay Dalton.

Elaiel understood what Ahziel was doing in that specific driveway where she had been killed. It was right in front of Christine's house. But what struck him as truly peculiar was that Christine had died shortly after her guardian angel. It could have been a coincidence, or it was probably more. Could their deaths be connected somehow? The only way to find out was to learn more about the human's last period of her life before her death.

Three knocks. The door was opened by a pale looking man with tired eyes, chin and jaw fully covered in beard while his hair began to develop locks, untrimmed for what appeared to have been a long time. The sunlight forced him to narrow his lids, to protect his eyes from the sudden brightness that was casting upon them. His reaction made sense considering that his home appeared to be quite dark, all his windows fully covered by drapes. "Yes" he asked the man standing on his front porch, elegantly dressed in a black suit.

"Hello. My name is El… Elton. Are you Mister Clay Dalton?"

"What can I do for you?"

"I am one of Christine Brown's former colleagues from the bank. I heard that she recently passed away. I couldn't make it to the funeral so I…"

"Come on in" Elaiel was abruptly invited inside. The place was very untidy. Clothes thrown in every direction, empty beer bottles laying on every piece of furniture and pizza boxes stacking up on the living room coffee table. It's as if the man either refused or had no will whatsoever to organize his place. His home clearly resembled his visage. In an instant, Elaiel knew that he was grieving as well.

"You'll have to excuse the mess" Clay apologized while clearing a spot on the sofa for his guest. "Not much for cleaning these days. Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you" Elaiel declined as he sat down. He saw several framed photographs on the wall. They depicted his host and a blonde woman, looking very happily in each other's arms. She must have been Christine. She looked just as Ahziel did, in many respects. The color of her hair, her joyous smile, her cheerful expression. It all reminded him of her.

"Well, if it's all the same to you, I'm going to get a beer."

Said and done, though the angel always had a tough time understanding the humans' willingness to get intoxicated by alcohol.

"I heard how she died but… could not believe it. Is it true?"

"Oh yes" Clay acknowledged as he took his first swallow from the bottle. "Torn to shreds by an incoming train. I could actually see her body getting twisted and contorted until breaking into pieces."

The same brutal way Ahziel got killed.

"I know her, she was a sound and logical person" Elaiel declared. "She wouldn't just fall off the platform like that. She wasn't the reckless type. How did it happen?"

"You know Elton, I don't know how much you knew her and I really don't care. But Christine, yes, she was one of the most intelligent and pragmatic woman alive. But all that crap that son of a bitch put inside her head… it got to her, took its toll on her."

"What son of a bitch?"

"Doesn't matter. I'm going to make sure he spends the rest of his life in jail. He'll fry on the electric chair. I'll see to that."

Just like his desire to take revenge on Ahziel's killer. Elaiel was discovering more and more things he and Clay had in common.

"But sometimes I think" Clay confessed "that I'm just as responsible for her death as he is. I was there, I was right there… and I did nothing. I just… froze… and watched… I could have jumped on those tracks, could have pushed her back on the platform and take the hit instead of her… but I didn't. I did… nothing…"

"You feel like should have done more" Elaiel completed. "Like you should have prevented it altogether from happening. Anything at all… to avoid this gut wrenching pain that's eating you alive, to prevent the purposelessness and despair… Or at least to have died with her so you wouldn't feel like you're the only man left in this universe."

"Exactly" Clay remarked with surprise, figuring that the man in front of him understood him completely.

For the first time since Ahziel's death, Elaiel felt something else beside grief and vengeance. He felt sympathy. He finally was not alone anymore, someone else existing that shared his anguish and grief. That had the same loneliness in his eyes as he had inside. Clay too had lost just as much as he had. He never would have imagined that he could bond like this with a human.

"Just wish I hadn't showed her that damn button" Clay added while drinking his beer.

"What button" Elaiel was curious.

"Ah, the famous cursed button" the human left to fetch it. "The source of all evil in the world."

Clay returned with the coat accessory and handed it over to his guest. When Elaiel touched it, he immediately was taken over by dark energies. He could feel the object had been touched by an immensely powerful malevolent entity. He jumped back in shock, dropping the button from his grasp, startling Clay as well.

"The hell man? You alright?"

"I'm fine" the angel assured him as he put more pieces of the puzzle together. One thing became fully clear: Ahziel and Christine's deaths were connected. The dark presence he felt at the suburb driveway was the same one he sensed right now, upon touching the button. It had been summoned by what appeared to be a curse. Elaiel recognized it, as he had seen its type before. Dark arts practitioners such as warlocks, witches or gypsies would cast a curse upon whomever would wrong them. For three days, the victim is tormented before finally being dragged to hell by an evil spirit or a demon. Christine probably had suffered the same kind of curse. But guardian angels usually could repel such demonic attacks. Ahziel was a strong angel and a mere demon would have been no match for her. Unless the killer wasn't just a mere demon, but someone incredibly mightier, that could easily overpower a guardian angel.

Elaiel now understood what he had to do. To find Ahziel's killer he had to find Christine Brown's soul, which was in one possible place: hell. He had to travel to hell.

He immediately headed toward the front door but before walking out, turned to Clay: "You are not responsible for her death, Clay. You never were!"

And with that, he left. Not reading into his mysterious guest too much, Clay could not hope but wonder on who he was and why did he rush off like that. As for Elaiel, his drive was now stronger. Since Clay had been robbed of someone just like he had, he wanted to get revenge for him and Christine as well. He had to. He planned to severely charge the demon responsible for all the pain it had brought to them. And with the discovery of the recent clues, vengeance was so close he could have tasted it.

/|\

Elaiel made his way that night to the train station, on the exact same platform Christine had fallen off to her death. Having had donned his battle armor, he was now in limbo, where the nearby humans could not see him. Not that there were many. The station's activity was dull, and the majority of the trains were mostly parked, waiting for their next departure in the morning.

To make sure that this was the right place, Elaiel, just like before, leaned down and touched the ground to get a vision of what had happened. As soon as he made contact with his palm, he was provided a confirmation. Flashes of Christine falling on the railway and a train heading right toward her. He saw Clay there as well, desperately gesturing and screaming emphatically. It was such a surreal yet familiar setting. With the human male being so close to her yet so far away, just like his situation had been with Ahziel. Had she suffered in the same way as Christine did in these visions? Was her end as painful and as torturous, enveloped in the same hopelessness?

This time however, Elaiel did not break the vision. It fueled him even more to press on. It continued to show him that Christine, just as she was about to be ran over by the train, her soul was pulled downward, into hell, by several demons. They had the same aura as the entity he sensed had been attached to the button of her overcoat.

This was the right place indeed. Since Christine's soul had been dragged to hell from there, the portal the demons opened to do that was still fresh and could still be used. Elaiel trained his hands forward to focus his celestial energies and open the path to hell. But before he could accomplish that, he sensed a presence approaching.

Out of nowhere, a demon landed right in front of him. It was a hideous, deformed creature, and despite its humanoid shape, it looked far from human. Its eyes were scattered all over its forehead and it had no jaw, all sorts of drools coming down from it fanged mouth. It held quite a large axe in his hands, ready to use it against the angel.

Elaiel raised his chin as if to acknowledge the demon's challenge but moved his eyes from the right side to the left, spotting with his peripheral view two more demons materializing out of the darkness behind him, armed to the teeth. Searching the rest of his surroundings, five demons seemed to close in on him, covering all escape routes. He had been encircled by them, who had been probably left behind by their master to guard the hell portal.

"Good" Elaiel thought, studying his enemies. He had been longing to blow off some steam and now, the opportunity was finally presenting itself. So he charged them, head on.

Normally, a regular soldier angel did not need to put up a heavy fight to dispatch such demon minions. But for an Elite in training such as Elaiel, these creatures proved to be nothing more than practice dummies. He easily dodged their attacks, and the ones he could not, proved to be without effect. He was too quick and too agile for them, performing some spectacular combat moves that not only sent the demons on their back, they also had left them bewildered.

Even using their supernatural abilities proved to be in vain. The demons launched fireballs and dark energy strikes, they tried ganging up on Elaiel, attempting to keep his arms and legs immobilized so to carry out their blows. They desperately resorted to hit and run tactics but it all was to no avail. The angel was anticipating their every move and counter-attacked with deadlier force.

He spread his angelic wings and summoned forth to pieces from them, which turned into swords. From that point forward, the demons' moments were numbered. Elaiel was so precise and accurate, every swing of his blades resulted in a fatal wound. It was all over in a matter of seconds. The last one standing, he kept his battle stance as all the demons lifelessly fell, some of them even cut in half.

But it was not over. The creatures' bodies started growing tentacles. They intertwined and dragged the bodies, uniting them into one large form, towering above Elaiel, more menacing then before.

The angel seemed more irritated than impressed. He turned to the monstrous shape and trained the tip of his wings toward it. They became astonishingly bright. The conjoined demons rushed to him to strike him down. At that point, a massive energy ray came out of Elaiel's wings. It was so devastating and powerful, it caused massive explosions in its wake while completely disintegrating the demons out of existence.

Elaiel retracted his wings, staring at the havoc created by his supernatural attack. He had plenty more in store for the demons, especially for the one that killed Ahziel.

Without any hesitation, he returned to the task of opening the portal to hell. He did not have to put much effort to do it, the rift between Earth and hell appearing in front of him without any delay. It resembled a black hole only without the gravitational effect.

Elaiel had never been to hell before. He often had wondered what it was like in the realm of the demons. Sometimes, he and Ahziel took pleasure in making fun of the human representation, with fires, brimstone and lava. Maybe it was like that. Maybe it was more. One thing was for sure, Elaiel was not going to be deterred by the uncertainty and the unknown. Beyond that portal was Ahziel and Christine's murderer and his vengeance. His only purpose.

He stepped through. He found himself flying downward in an endless void. Somewhere far below, there was a red light. That had to be hell. Activating his angelic wings to use them to reach there faster, Elaiel was repeating only one thing in his mind: "I'm coming, you son of a bitch!"

* * *

So that was it. Leave a review if you liked it and tell me your thoughts. See you in the next chapter.


	5. Chapter III: Infernal Circle

Welcome back everybody to a new chapter. Here, we dive in the heart of the story itself and begin to see how things turn out. Elaiel will have to face quite the odds from here on out and everything will be tested of him. What do you guys think? Can he do it? Let's see...

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CHAPTER III – INFERNAL CIRCLE

Elaiel stepped in what appeared to be a stone confinement. Everything was made of rock, from the walls and ceiling to the floor. It was quite dark, which forced him to rely more on his supernatural eyesight than mere human senses. He could clearly distinguish an opening before him, in the shape of a narrow corridor leading out of the small chamber he was in. He started to walk toward it.

The fact that he couldn't perceive other presences around him did not mean he was not on his guard. He was in an unknown place, unsure if it was actually hell or somewhere else, and it was wiser to be prudent and expect anything. Tiptoeing on the mineral matter ground, he scrutinized what was up ahead, not ignoring his back. He was waiting for anything to pop out and attack him.

The narrow corridor led him to what seemed like an exit from the cave he had found himself in. Walking further, he reached outside, standing on a large cliff, part of a small mountain. Looking upward, he could see its peak while the distance to its base was considerably reduced compared to other such colossal landforms.

He began to wonder if he had actually reached hell or not. It was certainly not what he was expecting from the demons' native realm. In many aspects. The first, he was not beholding the volcanic environment similar to the human representation. In front of him laid a desolate field covered in what appeared to be some form of ash. Secondly, it was dark, the only provided light came from blue flickers from the tenebrous clouds that overwhelmed the sky. But somehow, the dark was faded because he could clearly see several miles in front of him. He was able to spot numeorus rock formations on the ground and more low-height mountains in the distance.

And thirdly, it was silent. A deafening quietness dominated the sonic setting. It was extremely disturbing. It made him restless and caused all his senses to be on edge for anything. Elaiel could have sworn that if a person would have dropped a needle, he would have heard it falling.

Indeed he was in unknown territory and he barely knew where to proceed from here on out. Then he realized, he could follow the demon's spiritual trail, use it to track the fiend down and kill it remorselessly. He got its scent during his investigation on Earth. He knew how the demon 'smelled' and planned on fully using it to find his prey.

Just as Elaiel raised his hand, about to activate his supernatural energies tracking ability, he spotted with his peripheral view a shadowy figure lurking behind him. Finally, he thought, considering that the welcoming party he had been expecting had finally arrived. It was time to slay more demons.

In a fast move, he quickly turned around, spreading his wings and readying two swords in his hands, and, with a swift dash, he thrust one of his blades through the demon's neck. However…

His sword went right through. The intended victim was not a demon, or at least, did not appear to be. It was a man. A few inches shorter than Elaiel, he was dressed as humans would describe casual, leather jacket, navy-blue pants and black boots. He had short hair and dark brown eyes, completed by a well-defined face covered by a recently trimmed beard. What stroke Elaiel peculiar was that the stranger's expression tackled a jovial attitude. It made him look like he was smiling even when he was serious.

"Yeah" the man said, stepping aside, removing himself from the radius of the blade. "That's not going to work, you know."

Elaiel did not hesitate and swung his sword at the man again. Just like before, his weapon passed right through him like he was not there. He prepared an energy attack but the stranger quickly intervened.

"Will you relax and stop wasting your breath on me!"

"Your tricks will not help you forever, demon" Elaiel spat and launched a sphere of incandescent light that, just like his sword, hit nothing and kept going on its trajectory, beyond their position.

"For crying out loud" the stranger said, vexed and worried. "You need to stop and listen to me."

"Not interested" the angel replied, his eyes being completely overtaken by light, showing how menacing and threatening his stance was. He trained both of his hands forward, in an attempt to draw his opponent into a physical form. Yet even he could feel that it was futile, he wasn't achieving anything no matter how hard he tried. He stopped, trying to figure out what to do next. He began to suspect that maybe he was up against a more powerful adversary than he was. Only one thing left to do, use his most potent attack, just like with the demons guarding the portal to hell on Earth. He pointed the tip of his wings at the man in front of him and began to focus all his energy for his devastating angelic light beam.

"Damn it, put your wings away" the stranger urged Elaiel but to no avail. The angel was fully ignoring him. "Because if I'm not mistaken, and I'm fairly certain I'm not, the free light show you're putting up now can draw a lot of attention. Especially here. Do you want all the legions in hell to rain down upon us? Because that's what's going to happen IF YOU DON'T PUT YOUR DAMN WINGS AWAY AND CALM DOWN!"

Elaiel realized the truth in his words. Though he did not mind going through all the demons in hell, killing all of them to satiate his thirst for vengeance, he cared about only one, Ahziel's murderer. He had to kill him first before anything else. Therefore, he deduced that concealing his presence before getting to his target was probably the most prudent decision he could take now. He folded his wings as they dematerialized behind him. His eyes returned to normal and his stance turned neutral.

The stranger breathed relieved. "Now that that's out of the way, we can discuss like civilized gentlemen, right?"

Normally, Elaiel would not even conceive listening to a demon. But this demon gave him a sound advice, which probably saved his entire mission. But why? What was his reason? What was he up to?

"What do you want, demon? I don't have any desire to speak or play games with you."

"I assure you, I'm not a demon" the stranger responded. "Just think of me as your friendly neighborhood stranger. Or… friendly hellish stranger more like it."

At least the angel had one thing confirmed. He had indeed arrived in hell.

"And what do you want of me" Elaiel questioned.

"I just want to know what an angel like you would be doing in hell, of all places."

"None of your business" Elaiel said, scouting with his sight the area ahead.

"Because I can't quite wrap my head around it" the stranger continued on his strain of thoughts, unfazed by Elaiel's remark. "Everyone who comes here either was sent to be punished or is some weird-ass masochist, thinking this to be the best place to get their much needed pleasurable pain and suffering. And since you don't deserve to be here, being an angel, and you don't look like a masochist, then what possible reason could you have to come in this hole?"

"Go wrap your head around it somewhere else" the angel spat annoyed.

"But that wouldn't be as much fun as staying here with you now, would it?"

Elaiel was becoming more and more angry. This demon or whatever it was supposed to be, was surely not there to fight. He appeared to be in the mood to play games and talk. Maybe he was stalling as well. And Elaiel was immensely eager to resume his course and track down Ahziel's killer and induce him pain the likes of which no demon has seen before. This delaying that the stranger was causing was greatly irritating him.

The strange man was exasperatingly oblivious to the angel's vexed expression. "I have to say, I find this rather engaging. This whole attempt at trying to understand this mountain-of-stupid move you pulled by coming down here. Let me have another go at it."

"Listen you piece of crap" Elaiel snapped. "I strongly suggest you get out of my sight for good because if you don't, I may decide to come after you instead. And believe me, your little trick will not help you anymore and you'll get to find out how wrathful I can actually be."

The stranger's expression lit up, like that of a child after having had received their Christmas gift. "So that's it. That's why you're here. You're after someone, aren't you?" Then, after chuckling, he added: "Wow, I gotta admit, I was more expecting the masochist part than this. I'm actually surprised. So tell me, who do you want to kill?"

The angel realized that he committed a mistake, allowing the stranger to find out the reason he was in hell. It heavily displeased him. "Enough" he barked and turned his back on the mysterious man. "We're done here."

The other's face became even more dumbfounded. "You don't even know who you're after, do you? Oh my goodness. You actually came here like a blind dog following a scent. Wow, I'd feel so naked if I were you, honestly now."

"Oh I'll find out, believe me" Elaiel spoke with a fierce determination. "And he will have no place to hide from me. And after I'm done with him, I'll be coming after you, just for your bugging me right now."

"As touched as I am to hear that and as moved as I am for you taking such an interest in me, I have, unfortunately, bad news for you. Look around, you're in hell. Do you honestly believe you stand a chance in this place, all by yourself, surrounded by millions of enemies? I know you may have some kind of kill list, but believe me when I say this: you will succeed in nothing but dying. Look at yourself. You don't even know who you want to kill. Hell, you don't know where to even begin to look for him, much less find him and take your shot. Wake up: you are following a lost cause."

False. Every word the stranger spoke was false and illogical. Elaiel knew he had the power to find and vanquish Ahziel's killer and nothing was going to stop him, not even a million demonic legions standing in his way. So the pathetic attempts of a puny little demon to draw him off course seemed like nothing more than a child's play. Or perhaps it was more.

"He sent you here, didn't he" Elaiel inquired, suspecting that the stranger had been sent there by the demon that killed Ahziel to stall him. Good, he thought. Although he realized he had lost the element of surprise, it overjoyed him to know that his target was scared of him, using such trivial tactics to stop him.

"What" the stranger was confused.

"You tell your boss that I am coming for him. And there's nothing… NOTHING he can do to stop me!"

And with that, Elaiel jumped off the cliff. The stranger watched him as he fell toward the ground with considerable speed.

/|\

Elaiel had searched for what he felt as weeks. Hell was different than heaven. It was like it had the notion of time but it did not. He knew he had been there for some time yet it weighed ten times more and none at all at the same time. Using his advanced supernatural energy reading, he continued to follow Ahziel's killer's trail. He covered vast, enormous distances, searching every corner, every mountain, every stone but created little to no progress at all. Each time he sensed he was on the right path, he realized he needed to seek a different way. It was becoming a bit tedious, even for him, who was downright obsessed with finding the killer. But it did not stop him and every time he understood he needed to take on a new route, he grew even more motivated. He would have scoured all of hell to complete his vengeance.

"No luck, huh" the stranger popped out of nowhere while Elaiel was again at a crossroads. The latter did not mind him and went on rereading the energy fields to find his quarry's trail once more. "Do you even know where you are? Or how to get back to the portal?"

"You're wasting your time" Elaiel spat and ignored him further.

"Am I" the man asked rhetorically. "You've been searching for quite a while now and you haven't found anything so far. You don't know jack squat, you're alone and you have nothing to go on."

Distracted by the sound of his voice, Elaiel activated his angelic speed and traversed several hundred miles in a second, to get rid of his annoying interlocutor and focus properly on his task. But to his grievance, the man was right there with him, continuing his speech.

"I mean, how do you know you haven't been spinning in circles all this time?"

Elaiel's attention had been caught by what the man had just said. The notion made him pretty uneasy as he knew it was a possibility. This place was messing with his temporal perceptions, it could have been manipulating his perspective in space as well.

"How long do you think you can keep this up?"

"Until I find and kill that son of a bitch."

"Really? And if you don't find him?"

Elaiel opened his mouth to answer but he was stopped by a voice coming from the distance. It sounded like a human's voice, shouting repeatedly. It got closer and closer to his position. Noticing that the stranger disappeared, Elaiel decided to investigate the source of the shouts.

They belonged to a man. By appearance, he seemed to be in his mid-thirties. He was covered only by a dirty green cloth, walking barefoot, had long hair and beard that covered almost all of his face and looked very frail and thin. He was carrying some sort of stone staff in his hand, as he used it to aid his walk. Elaiel could clearly distinguish his shouts. He was reaching to someone called Marveaux.

"Marveaux" the man let out again upon seeing Elaiel. "Oh, you're not Marveaux."

The angel quickly realized that this was a lost human soul. He could also feel that the man was not quite sane. "No, I'm not" he replied. "Who is Merveaux?"

But Elaiel did not get an answer right away. The man began looking in all directions with jolting movements and then proceeded to smell the ashes on the ground. "They are relentless. I always have to be cautious" he confessed.

Even his speaking style denoted that he was quite disturbed.

"Who" Elaiel asked, crossing his arms.

"The demons, of course. We are in hell, aren't we?"

"Who is Marveaux" the angel inquired once more, but he was more impressed by the man's awareness. He seemed so perfectly fine uttering that he was in hell. He must have had been there for a very long time.

"My friend. We arrived here together but we got separated along the way. I've been searching for him ever since. Marveaux! Where are you, you swine? I told him, I told him to stick together but noooo, he had to go on and disappear on me. I will find him. Those demons are not going to stop me. Right? RIGHT?"

Elaiel noticed that the man threw a suspicious stare at him. The latter approached him and demanded in a very authoritative tone: "You're not a demon, I hope. Are you? Huh?" But he found himself pushed backwards by the angel, gently but firmly enough as a clear warning sign to keep a distance.

"No, of course you're not a demon. Demons don't appear in plain sight like you do right now. No, no, no, no, no, no, no… They lie in the shadows in wait, constantly whispering doom into your year, moving ever closer to you" – began to whimper and sob uncontrollably - "why don't they just do something already? DOOO SOMETHIIING! They're always toying with me. On and off, on and off, on and off, there is no light at the end of the tunnel…"

Elaiel continued to watch as the man went into a full-blown psychotic rant, alternating between crying and laughing.

"Don't worry, Marie, the flowers will grow again. That's what flowers do. They wither, die and grown right back. Don't you worry, Marie, don't you worry. They'll grow right back. But… they'll die too. Again and again and again" he repeated as he dropped to the ground, hitting it with his fists.

Then, very abruptly, he launched himself on his feet: "But they're not going to stop me. Marveaux. I have to find Marveaux. Don't you worry, Marveaux. Will find you… I will find you…"

The 'spinning in circles' theory the stranger had presented him earlier was beginning to preoccupy Elaiel more and more. What if he had been spinning in circles all this time? What if he won't find Ahziel's killer and just wander aimlessly through hell for all eternity, just like the poor tortured human soul had done. It frightened him, especially when he thought that the killer's trail was not getting any warmer. Was he going to end up just like Marveaux's friend, uselessly and obsessively running toward the same goal over and over again without getting anywhere? Without even realizing it?

"I won't let you stop me" the man menacingly pointed his staff at the angel. "I will find Marveaux… Marveaux" he declared and began to run toward a stone formation nearby.

"No, wait" Elaiel cried out but with no avail. The man went around one of the stones and a terrifying scream of excruciating pain was heard afterward. Elaiel found nothing when he got there, the man having vanished into thin air. "Demons" he muttered, unable to develop any other explanation on how the male soul disappeared like that.

He began to wonder if he was going to end in the same way as the human. Alone, insane, without any hope for anything. Because his mission of finding his friend was hopeless. He would have never been able to find Marveaux. His failure, his death, were inevitable. Was this what was expecting Elaiel as well? Hopelessness, blinding insanity… death? For the first time since he had started on this path to vengeance, he was experiencing doubts.

"Seems like another one bit the dust" the stranger spoke, after materializing next to Elaiel.

"Did you…" Elaiel asked.

"What? Kill him? Neah, not here to dirty my hands. Besides, I'm not really here, am I" he said, referring to his astral projected state.

"Then why are you here?" Elaiel raised his voice. He was not in the mood to hear the stranger's discouraging speeches. "Are you the demon in the shadows that will toy with me and drive me insane before killing me? Then go ahead, do it!" – raising his arms sideways, exposing himself in a vulnerable state – "Kill me now and be done with it!"

But the stranger did nothing. "Like I said, not here to get my hands dirty. I just want you out of here, plain and simple."

As soon as the stranger uttered these words, Elaiel seemed to have a moment of crystal clarity. He slowly lowered his arms and began smiling, even laughing. The stranger raised one of his brows in confusion, unable to make any sense of the other's reaction. Elaiel burst into a mild laughing fit, shaking his head as if to suggest he was disappointed with himself for thinking about stupid notions. He also got even more amused when he figured that he was exhibiting the same psychotic behavior as the human soul he had encountered.

"You know" the stranger stepped in "this would actually be quite amusing in other circumstances."

"I gotta give it to you" Elaiel admitted "you actually had me going there for a while. You did. I really started to think I actually had no chance to do anything here. But you made one single mistake. You appeared. Which means I must be doing something right or else you wouldn't be here, trying to convince me to leave. You're still trying to keep me away from your boss."

The stranger rolled his eyes.

Elaiel pressed on: "But you see, I'm not going to be like that human. He ignored his demons in the shadows and blindly went forward without any course or reason. He lost his mind, falling into the circle. And he ended up failing and dead. But I won't fall into the same infernal circle… I won't ignore you. No, because if you're here, than I'm surely on the right track. And believe me, I won't go forward as blindly as he did. No… because I know what to do… I know how to get to your boss."

"You're actually not as smart as you think you are but I'll humor you. How are you going to find 'my boss'? In case you haven't noticed, you haven't been finding much of anything. You can't pick up his trail."

"Maybe I can't. But I can pick up hers" Elaiel added with great confidence, referring to Christine. A human soul was much easier to find and since the killer demon personally claimed her via the curse, she was bound to be in the same place as he was. All he had to do was find her and use her to get to him. No sympathy, no remorse, no doubts… Only vengeance… pure, unwavering, relentless…

* * *

As always, tell me what you think so far. I'll be seeing you soon.


	6. Chapter IV: Dark Reflection

Hello everybody. It's been a while but I'm finally back with this new chapter. It took me a while to get it done. Hopefully I'll be able to go on with this story until the end. Anyways, I'll leave you to it. Let me know what you think of the story so far.

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CHAPTER IV – DARK REFELECTION

"La, la la la, la, la la, laaaaaaah! La la la…"

Elaiel felt as if he was going to explode. The stranger had been going at it like that for what seemed like hours, non-stop. He tried to ignore him at first but as time went by, the sounds he made became extremely irritating and aggravating, even enervating. He could not withstand them any longer. He turned to his pestering follower in an attempt to make him stop: "Will you just shut up already!"

The stranger stopped the incessant singing but then followed them with an explanation: "Since I can't manage to convince you to abandon this suicidal mission of yours and go home, I might as well drive you crazy. So I hope you're ready for some sweet tunes, baby, cause I got a whole lot more in store for you."

Elaiel rolled his eyes, knowing there was nothing he could do to get rid of him or even get away. The mysterious stranger had a knack at appearing wherever he was making running away from him completely useless. That is why he gave up on that idea and resorted to simply walking instead of travelling faster than light as he would normally do. And since he had decided to follow Christine's spiritual trail instead of the demon, walking helped him better pinpoint the woman's position.

The stranger's singing was definitely not helping him focus properly.

"Don't you have anything better to do" Elaiel asked. "Your ramblings are not going to help you in stopping me so you're really wasting your time here. Why don't you just go and do something else, get a hobby or something."

"Have one: it's you. Now this is what I call the 4000th Symphony. La, la, la…"

However, in between the stranger's vocal notes, Elaiel managed to hear something else. "Did you hear that?"

"Like I'm going to fall for that" the stranger replied.

"No, shut up you idiot! Listen."

The stranger, although reluctant to trust Elaiel, tuned in his auditory senses to check out what the angel was referring to. Despite the deafening silence in hell, a faint scream of panic could be heard. Both of them caught it as well as they could hear each other.

"It sounds like it's coming from that mountain over there" Elaiel said, pointing with his finger.

The scream came from a young woman. She and several other souls were attacked by two horrendous creatures wielding large axes inside the cave of the mountain Elaiel had indicated. The demons began waving their sharp weapons at their targets, successfully implanting them in every body part they could see. One of them saw a child, a girl, taking cover against the wall. Thinking she would make a good kill, the demon began to walk toward her, readying his axe to strike.

"No" the woman yelled upon seeing that and ran to place herself between the child and the monster. The latter did not waver and retracted his weapon to a side for a massive swing to land on the woman's head.

Suddenly, he felt as if someone just pulled his axe right out of his hand from behind. Turning to see who it was, he noticed Elaiel. "Human mutt" he barked and launched himself at his new target.

"I'm no human" the angel retorted and showed his luminescent eyes and wings. He dashed to avoid the demon and, with the axe in his hand, adroitly rotated to gain momentum and chopped the creature's head with one clean swing. The demon's body and it's severed head proceed to disintegrate immediately after. Wasting no time, Elaiel turned his attention toward the second demon. The latter was no longer focusing on the humans, staring at the angel while releasing a vicious roar.

The woman grabbed the girl and covered her with her arms. She was crying and was beyond terrified. The other souls there got behind Elaiel, taking advantage that their attacker was no longer interested in them. The stranger joined their ranks.

Elaiel simply then threw the axe in his hand at his demonic opponent. It did not achieve much, for the demon dodged it easily but when he turned his attention to the angel again, he saw only his sole violently hitting his face. The demon was sent into the wall by Elaiel's flying kick but quickly got up for another round. The two engaged in a hand-to-hand combat, with the angel clearly having the upper hand. It was so one sided that Elaiel did not get hit at all. After a few more seconds of him landing every possible punch and kick on the demon, he decided to end the fight, unloading a barrage of energy strikes, reducing the monstrous creature to mere pieces.

"Very nice" the stranger began clapping. "An easy 3 out of 10."

"It's ok" the woman comforted the crying child. "You're safe now" – then turning to the others – "everyone alright?"

"We're fine Ana" a voice answered her.

"We lost Sama and Doru" another voice announced.

"Let's do a headcount" she ordered. However, they were too busy fixating on Elaiel. "Come on people, we need to know who did we lose today. Get moving!"

They barely took to their task. The woman, after giving the child in her arms to another, began approaching Elaiel who was talking to the stranger. "Thank you so much for your help. If it hadn't been for you, I'm not sure we would have managed to survive this time."

The angel did nothing short than look at her and walk away.

"Wait" she demanded. "Are you leaving? You can't leave."

"I don't wish to stay" he responded very coldly.

"You have to! If you leave, they'll kill us all. When the other demons are going to find out we killed their kind, they'll surely come seeking for revenge, in greater numbers. We don't stand a chance."

"Not my problem" Elaiel declared bluntly.

She adopts a confused and worrisome expression. "But… I don't understand. You're an angel. You're guardians, you're supposed to be righteous and good, defend us from the evil and…"

"Look" he quickly cut her off "I don't care, alright? I don't care about you or about what will happen to you."

"Don't take it personally, honey" the stranger intervened "some angels just have a bad way about them."

"Go and die" Elaiel spat and turned to leave.

"No, please, wait" the woman begged. "You have to care a little bit more about what happens to us. Please just… listen to me. Please stay here, get to know me, to know us. You'll see that there are plenty of reasons to save us. At least until the demons return… If we don't manage to convince you by then and you will still want to leave, then I won't stand in your way. I promise you."

"I mean," the stranger completed "it's not like you have anything to do out there other than listen to my 4015th Symphony."

Elaiel was standing still, seemingly pondering on what decision to take. He looked at both the woman and the stranger, how they both wanted him to stay. Especially her. She appeared to be desperately hoping for his answer to be a positive one. "Alright" he finally let out, after what had felt like an eternity for the woman. "I'll stay."

/|\

Despite all the things that preoccupied him, Elaiel was a bit astounded. He had stumbled on what seemed to be a colony of human souls in hell, taking shelter in the cavernous hollows of the standalone mountain. And they were quite numerous too, the angel distinguishing about fifty in their ranks. But their numbers was not the issue. It was the reasoning behind this crude sanctuary that eluded him. Why would these damned spirits want to gather and settle in a place like this? Using it as a hide-out from the demons fell short, as had been demonstrated by the recent attacks. Perhaps they were clinging to their past lives, still desiring a place of belonging, a roof over their heads, somewhere they would feel safe and at ease. A home. But just like safety in hell, it was merely an illusion, an ill-fitted attempt at hope in a desolate wasteland of chaos and darkness. These humans were fools and his temporary services at protecting them were not going to help them in any way.

However, he did feel curiosity as to how this colony came to take place. He suspected that the woman who incessantly pleaded for his aid was behind it. After he had agreed to stay and protect them from a possible demonic retaliation, she offered, as promised, to demonstrate why he had made the right choice to defend them once more.

"I know what you're thinking" she started, walking through the caves, checking if everyone was alright after the attack, closely followed by Elaiel and the stranger. "That this is a huge stupidity."

"What do you mean" the stranger inquired.

"This settlement we made for ourselves here. Trying to stay safe in hell of all places. It sounds like a fallacious and worthless idea. We're here because we are being punished for the sins we committed in our lives. All we must do here is suffer, nothing else. So why try to be free and feel secure in the most dangerous place ever created? Why maintain hope where there is no hope?"

"I've learned that humans can become quite crazy" the stranger added amused.

Ana leaned down to ask another woman if she was alright. "You would go crazy in a place like this. That torturous silence outside sure helps. In a place like this, all alone, no one next to you… well, it's not just the demons that can destroy you."

Elaiel recalled the man he had met when he first arrived in hell. It gave Ana's words justification.

"So you're just staying together to what? Remain sane" the stranger struggled to understand.

"Not just sane. Look around you" the woman requested. "Do we look dead to you? Or rather alive? We may have died but that doesn't mean we're nothing. We can still feel pain, we can still feel anguish, sorrow and relief, comfort and security… We can still cry, we can still laugh, we can still feel joy, even if we don't have our earth-bound creature comforts. So why shouldn't we feel alive? How does that stop us from hoping, from dreaming of something better?"

"You gotta love humans" the stranger said. "Even in hell, in the midst of utter darkness and continuous punishment, they never relinquish hope. Commendable, for a species of misbehaving, idiotic miscreants. And I take it that you initiated this haven for sheep in the den of the wolves?"

"Did you see Tanya back there? She looks like she is no more than six years old. What am I supposed to do? Just leave her to fend for herself? Leave all of them alone? At least this way we have a better chance. Strength in numbers and all that."

"Not like it would do much against demons" the stranger declared, realizing that she must have used the same words to convince the others to follow her.

"An illusion" Elaiel stepped in.

"I'm sorry" Ana did not understand.

"You're giving these people false hope. Sooner or later, the demons will catch up to you. And there will be no one to save you from them."

The woman casted a worried look, completely taken aback by Elaiel's harsh judgment. She could not grasp why he was so devoid of sympathy and apathetic. "So we should just give up? Turn ourselves to the demons and be done with it? Just because we can't see hope, doesn't mean there is none. I choose to believe that. To believe that there is light in the midst of darkness, that things can get better. As long as we still feel alive, then it must be that we still are. And where there is life… there is hope. That's my faith. And no logic can take that away from me."

"Not bad" the stranger admitted with a sturgeon face.

"And everyone who comes here needs that as well. Not just to stay sane, but to find the strength to keep on fighting, to hope for something better… hope we can be better. Because if we have been sent down here to be punished for our sins, then striving to do good is the first step to forgiveness… to salvation. And your presence here, an angel of the Lord… it proves that. Proves we're on the right path."

Elaiel could not help chuckle at her deduction. How little did she know.

"So tell me, Ana" the stranger was curious. "What nasty, naughty sins brought you here to be punished?"

The woman released a deep sigh. "My name is Ana Kurnikova Rastatieva. I was the daughter of a prestigious nobleman in Sankt-Peterburg, Andriy Rastatiev, a powerful and wealthy man, known across the Empire. Naturally, he aimed for a higher social and political position and he used me to obtain it. He wanted me to seduce and then murder a man with similar power, so he can steal his fortune and claim it as his own. I was avaricious, I wanted my family to be strong, wealthy and powerful. So I accepted my father's request for help. I bedded that man and when the right moment came, I… I stabbed him, three times in the heart… ravenously and without any remorse. But…"

"I'm guessing the other shoe drops now" the stranger guessed.

"Immediately after that, my father barged in the bedroom, with several other people and lawmen behind him. I was shocked because… that was not part of the plan. I was supposed to leave after killing my victim and let everything play out naturally from the next day onwards. I looked at my father silently but my stare was demanding to learn what was happening. What followed after that… was the most horrible thing I've lived to see. My own father… he started to accuse me. He appeared so surprised at what I've done, as if he didn't know anything about it. He started to yell and scream in rage. I tried to cover myself but he just grabbed me, pinned me to the floor and started strangling me. He shouted: ' _What kind of daughter I raised?_ ' and ' _You shamed me, you ungrateful whore_ '. If it weren't for the lawmen that pulled him away, he would have killed me. He furiously spewed words like ' _murderer_ ' and ' _she's not my child_ '. My father turned against me. He used me in his ploy like a puppet and then discarded me without any remorse. The rage I felt from him that night was horrifying. No one should ever see their parent judge and hate them like that. I felt so alone, so helpless, so lost… Nothing had meaning anymore, especially considering that I had just committed a murder for nothing. I saw the window and…"

Ana ceased, too burdened by the memories to conclude. And she didn't need to end her sentence for Elaiel and the stranger to understand what had happened next.

"The next thing I remember, I woke up here. I knew I had reached hell. What other place could make me feel exactly like those horrific moments before I died? And besides, I had to be punished for what I've done. I accepted that."

The stranger was intrigued and desired to hear more. Elaiel, on the other hand, was having serious doubts as to why angels must guard humans in the first place. Why should they, why should HE even bother with keeping them safe when they are capable of performing such horrific acts. It seemed useless and redundant.

"But then" Ana went on. "I saw the others. I saw how frightened they were, how desperate, how alone... Just like I was when my father turned against me. Listen, when I was alive, I made a wrong choice. I manipulated and murdered a man for my own personal gains. And for that, I was punished. Not by coming here. But by what happened before it. My own father turned against me, the man who raised me, blood of my blood! When he did that, I felt so alone, so abandoned… No one should go through something like that. Especially not these people. So I wanted to give them the second chance I didn't receive. Help them see that they're not alone. That there still is hope."

"A noble concept" the angel indicated. "But something tells me you're not doing it only for your care for them."

Ana was impressed by how much of a good reader Elaiel was. He proved right. She was not doing this only because of her altruism. "Like I said, I had been damned for committing dreadful deeds. It attracted only darkness. Maybe if I do selfless, righteous deeds… maybe, just maybe… I'll attract salvation."

Despite learning that she also had selfish reasons, Elaiel developed a small amount of respect for her courage and beliefs. He had heard of the humans' extraordinary capacity of redeeming themselves after committing terrible acts. It was undeniable. And her passion in the face of absolute damnation in hell was to be admired. Maybe she was doing this for the wrong reasons but the way she was going about it commanded praise worthy of a warrior.

/|\

As per Ana and the other's fears, the demons had returned. This time, they were five of them and they were armed to the teeth, possessing a bloodthirsty gaze that would have sent shivers down anyone's spine. The human souls were up against the wall, looking at them. But they were not terrified. The lead demon picked up on that. In fact, he was surprised they were standing so very still, instead of scattering in every direction, trying to escape. Something was wrong.

Before any of the beasts made a move, Elaiel suddenly materialized behind them. With one hand wave, he lifted them above the ground with his superior telekinesis. But he did not kill them. He just kept them hoovering in the air like that. The stranger, who was watching everything from within the crowd of human souls, immediately knew that something strange was occurring.

Elaiel pointed his hand at the demons and closed his eyes. At that point, his telepathic wavelengths accessed the demons' minds, probing them for information. He received, in return, millions of images and experiences, belonging to these particular demons, stretching as far out as to encompass even what others of their kind saw and performed. Then, he cross-referenced them with Christine Brown's spiritual trail until he finally reached where he wanted: her location. He now knew where she was and how to get to her.

"What is he doing" Ana asked the stranger. All he could do was snicker, realizing what Elaiel had done.

The angel opened his eyes, but their hazel light revealed a vengeful and full of hatred shimmering. He suddenly clenched his fist. At that action, all five demons started jittering uncontrollably, as if in convulsions from an immeasurable pain. They began to roar, but it was not their usual sound of intimidation. It was much more high-pitched, like that of a horse which is in panic, dying. The sight was a disturbing one even for the human souls as well. Ana held Tanya tighter and covered her ears and eyes as best as she could to avoid exposing her further to the horrific spectacle Elaiel was displaying.

Eventually, the monstrous creatures stopped jittering, as if they had been suffocated to death. Elaiel released his grasp on them, as they lifelessly fell on the ground like inanimate objects, producing a loud thud on impact. Seconds later, they disintegrated like all demons do after dying. And with that, Elaiel's job was done, turning around, facing the exit. Upon seeing him, Ana gave Tanya to another woman and rushed to him. The stranger followed her.

"You're still leaving" she questioned dismayed.

Elaiel did not answer.

"I think he was going to leave no matter what" the stranger said, after fully understanding Elaiel's motivation. "He never did this because he wanted to save you. He only did it so that he can get information from those demons. That was his sole intention. He doesn't give a damn about what happens to any of you."

"Is that true" Ana asked, her bright green eyes piercing the angel for an answer. She appeared so innocent, so fragile, the way she was demanding an explanation from him. It would have moved anyone with a heart.

But Elaiel had no heart and Ana's gentle yet penetrating stare was not affecting him. All he could do is look back at her, silently, without any reply. She understood that the stranger was right, finding herself yet again abandoned as had happened before.

"But…. There's no telling what the demons will do now. Their wrath will be voracious. If you're not here to protect us, we'll most surely have to leave. We're not safe here anymore."

"Most likely you'll have to run somewhere else" the stranger added.

"Such a large group… we'll be extremely vulnerable in an open field out there. That can't happen. Please, Elaiel, you have to stay. We need you."

However, the angel, like before, offered her no response other than his cold, silent stare. Ana understood that the stranger was right about him. He was not going to help. Once more, she found herself abandoned by someone she expected to trust without exception.

"You son of a bitch. You killed us all. You're just like my father" she spat in Elaiel's face. "You care about nothing and no one but yourself. I hope to God I never lay eyes on you again because you… you're no angel. You're a demon. Get out of here… just go!"

After she left his sight, heading back to the others, Elaiel stared down on his distorted reflection on the blade of an axe one of the demons dropped…

* * *

So that's that. In the next chapter, Elaiel gets to the nitty gritty, to save Christine. I'll try to post it soon. Until then, let me know your impressions and comments in the review section. I'll see you next time. Bye!


	7. Chapter V: Snatch and Extract

Hello everyone and welcome to chapter V of this lovely little tale. Lemme know if you enjoyed it.

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CHAPTER V – SNATCH AND EXTRACT

The area was different than what Elaiel had seen of hell so far. The clouds were dark crimson, probably made that way from the reddish hot vapors emanating from the colossal volcano. Numerous lava streams flowed down from its surface toward the base, almost flooding the entire area in small incandescent lakes. Hills of all shapes and sizes bordered the volcano, creating a natural defensive wall. The mountain itself was towering above all of them, considerably the highest structure of the area. Aside from the lava streams, it had massive spikes unnaturally coming out of it, completing a nightmarish landscape of terror and dread.

On top of one of the hills, secluded, Elaiel was studying the base of the volcano. There were thousands of what appeared to be iron cages dispersed in every direction, each one of them containing a human soul. But they were not the only beings there. The angel counted at least a hundred demons roaming around, either tormenting souls or simply patrolling among the cages, probably seeking a new victim to torture. They were gruesome, grotesque creatures, repulsive to any sight but their own. Dark-tone colored skins, emaciated, with form inequalities, they fully resembled the concept they adhered to the most: chaos.

Elaiel's eyes spotted his primary objective: Christine. She was lying in a cage separated from all the others. Carefully honing his supernatural senses, he did not distinguish a higher power among all those low-tier demons. None of them was strong enough to have had ripped Ahziel to shreds like her killer had. He was not here and it vexed Elaiel. But there was still a card to play. Christine. She surely must know who the demon is. He had dragged her to hell in the first place. And even if she doesn't know his identity, the angel could still use her to get to him.

However, assessing the situation better, he knew he had to rescue her from this crude prison. With so many demons present there, there was no other option. The question of 'how was he going to do that' gave him pause.

"Love what they've done with the place." the stranger declared after materializing next to Elaiel, gazing upon the demonic settlement. The latter ignored him, continuing to focus on his current strain of thoughts.

The stranger sighted Christine as well. "Well, seems you've found her. But not quite what you were looking for, is it?"

Elaiel speared him with a look of annoyance. But there was no time to engage his mysterious follower, having already devised a plan on how to recuse the human woman. Manifesting one of his light wings, he retrieved a small piece from it, which turned into a feather. He shoved it in the ground.

"And here he goes." the other male was exasperated, correctly deducing the angel's intent. "Look, even if you do manage to save her, and that's a big IF, judging from all those demons down there, how the hell do you think she can possibly help you? You think she'll just come up right and give you a name?"

Not minding him, Elaiel teleported to the next hill and repeated the action. The stranger was right behind him.

"What makes you think she's capable of anything? She's been continuously tortured, flayed, maimed and violated ever since she got here, in every possible way. How do you know there is anything left of her?"

"I've had enough of you!" Elaiel snapped. "You are NOT going to make me back down, you obnoxious lint. Nothing, NOTHING you will say or do can change that. Mark my words, demon filth, after I'm done with this, I'll find you, and shove a sword down your throat. And when I do, you won't be able to run like you are doing right now, you stupid coward. You can count on that."

The stranger chuckled. "Be my guest then. Go over there and die." Afterward, he vanished into thin air. Elaiel breathed relieved, glad that he finally had some peace to do what he had planned.

/|\

When the demons heard the thunderous explosion coming from the nearby hills, all of them directed their gaze to discover what had happened. Some of them even headed to the source to investigate, leaving a large portion of their prison unsupervised. Taking advantage of the distraction he created, Elaiel swiftly entered the compound. He silently took out several demons in his path toward Christine. Everything was going exactly as he planned. Speed was of the essence, for he knew the hellish jailors would eventually return upon finding out the insignificance of the explosion.

Having seen him dispatching another demon, a human soul begins to howl and yelp, becoming very agitated and shaking his cage back and forth like a madman. Witnessing someone killing his tormentors, the man thought Elaiel could save him and desperately attempted to draw his attention. Other souls caught on and followed him in a vast cry for help. A cry that was making a lot of noise. It did not draw the angel's attention alone.

"Damn it!" Elaiel cursed. He had failed to take into account the human souls. His entire plan was spoiled, for the demons, noticing the ruckus, headed there en mass. Several of them just dived in the ground and sprung back to the surface, right next to Elaiel. However, they quickly found themselves sent on their backs by a spinning hook kick. "Right," he said. "Hard way it is then."

Up against every demon present there, the angel started taking them all on, one by one, slowly advancing to Christine's cage. Agile, fast and extremely skilled, he adroitly defeated his opponents, removing them out of his path with great ease. When their superior numbers gained on him, he appealed to his supernatural energy attacks. Rays, spheres, particles and beams bolted out of his hands, similar to the fire of a minigun, blasting at every demon which dared to approach him or stand in his way. He utilized his light wings as well, swinging them at his enemies with accurate precision. They burned devastatingly hot, allowing them to act both like extremely sharp blades, cutting demons left and right, and like a shield, protecting Elaiel from any harm. Two feather-like pieces detached from them and transformed into swords. The angel hacked and slashed dozens of adversaries with masterfully executed moves.

Even in such greater numbers, the demons realized they did not stand a chance. So they simply formed a phalanx like formation and charged at their attacker. Elaiel repositioned his wings to point sideways, tipped his swords forwards and prepared himself for what seemed like a head on collision. But he did not wait there. He activated his supernatural speed and launched himself at the oncoming demonic formation. The force he channeled made him topple all the demons like a battering ram. Furthermore, his wings and swords cut each and every one of them to pieces.

Finally, he arrived at Christine's cage. Breaking the lock with a swing of his sword, he opened the door. "Come with me." he pleaded. She, however, did not respond, barely reacting to anything. She was catatonic. Elaiel realized that. The stranger's words replayed in his mind about Christine's state. Indeed all the torment she had been subjected to took its toll on her. Nevertheless, they could not linger there. He grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the cage. But when he turned around, he saw that they were surrounded by the remaining demons, who were standing still, eying them like a predator does with its prey before attacking. Elaiel, standing between them and Christine, knew he had to kill them all or there would be no safe escape. And just like that, he engaged all of them, almost recklessly throwing himself into their ranks, dealing fatal blows and planting the blade of his swords with pinpoint precision into his opponents.

Christine was motionless outside the cage, having not moved ever since the angel pulled her out of it. Normally, she would have been at risk close to such a battle but Elaiel was fighting so fiercely, he kept the demons' focus solely on him. In the process, he absorbed hits and strikes himself, unable to guard from so many attacks. At one instance, he fell and all the remaining living demons proceeded to pile up on him.

Immobilized and struck down, constantly hit and unable to react in any kind of way, Elaiel's anger grew tenfold. These pathetic wretches had the audacity of attempting to stop him, just like the stranger. Who were these fiends, who did they consider themselves to be to even think of standing in his way? To slow him down like this? Not in a million years was he going to be thwarted by the likes of them. To be thwarted from finding Ahziel's killer. Never, he screamed in his mind.

Just then, with a powerful move fueled by his rage and ambition, he threw all demons off of him. Standing tall, with his wings fully folded and eyes glowing as bright as ever, he was showing them his might and resolve. The demons, witnessing how easily they've been knocked down, instead of getting back up and continuing the fight, ran away, too scared to face the angel any longer. Action which didn't surprise Elaiel much. Demons were cowards.

Alone at last, he stood down from his battle stance. He suddenly remembered about Christine. In the fight, he had lost track of her. Quickly turning to where he had last seen her, he breathed relieved that she was still there, unharmed. But that was the only good thing that could describe her condition. She had bruises everywhere, her fair hair seemed pulled and wrinkled while her face was covered in dirt and ash. She only had a greyish, ripped-to-threads dress to wear and her feet were bloody and swollen. She was standing still, eyes wide opened, but in a complete vegetative state, hardly capable of answering any kind of question. Of revealing the identity of Ahziel's murderer.

Elaiel thought of an idea to put into practice but before he could do anything, a very loud screech was heard from the surface of the volcano, high above them. The ground started to shake while all the mouths of the lava-rivers flowing from the mountain violently shot their slow, steady stream with great force. The peak shortly followed, viciously blasting the fumes coming out of the crater toward the sky. Something was very wrong and all the angel's instincts were intensified by the level of danger.

A large swarm of what appeared to be live gargoyles covered the sky after leaving the surface of the mountain. They were so many that, moving very closely next to each other, made it look like a giant black shape was roaming in the air. There was no doubt in Elaiel's mind that he had to take Christine and flee the area as fast as possible. He was no match for an entire fleet of flying demons.

He grabbed the woman in his arms, sprung his wings and took flight, producing a loud sonic boom. Without any question, he was much faster than the avian beasts on his tail, but not fast enough to disappear from their sight. And since he was in midair, they could easily follow him, no matter where he would go. He had to shake them in some way. So, he created multiple explosions in his wake, temporarily making a visual contact block between him and the demons. They couldn't see him anymore, but they still could sense him. His small delay was not going to last long. He had to take advantage of it.

/|\

Ana was gathering everyone, preparing to leave the caverns of the mountain that gave them shelter for such a long time. She mulled over all the risks of having a large group of human souls travelling together on the apparent infinitely long steppe that waited outside. They would be exposed, they would be extremely vulnerable. It was inviting death to come claim them all. But so was remaining in the mountain, especially after two demon groups had arrived and did not return. She was expecting their kind's inevitable terrifying wrath to rain down upon them, punishing their audacity and defiance. No. They had to leave there, as soon as possible. The last thing she wanted was to put everyone under her care in such danger.

To her shock and that of the rest of the souls present there, she saw Elaiel arriving among them, holding a woman in his arms, looking very agitated. The angel put Christine down and trained his hand forward, closing his eyes as if focusing steadily to accomplish a difficult action.

"What are you doing?" Ana asked confused.

"Holly God!" one of the males there expressed pure horror, pointing at the black swarm of flying demons approaching from afar.

"All of you be quiet!" Elaiel demanded, still engaged in the strange activity he had started. For a moment, Ana could have sworn that the ground she was standing on briefly disappeared before reappearing back. She noticed the same with the walls. Everyone else did. After that, Elaiel opened his eyes and pointed them at the incoming demons, hinting that he had finished whatever he was attempting.

Outside, the swarm flew by them as if they were not there. One of them stopped, appearing as if it was looking right at them. Everyone in the cavern hold their breath. "Be perfectly quiet." Elaiel softly said, enough so he could be heard by the humans. Even he seemed to be filled with tension at the highest level. If the demons would enter the cave, it was all over, for any one of them. Ana felt her heart beat faster and faster. She was not sure it was her heart, if she even still had it, that she was sensing. But she was certain she was beyond terrified. She started to pray.

Elaiel, in the meantime, was piercing the demon with his gaze, almost demanding for it to turn around and leave. "Come on, you piece of crap." he whispered between his lips. Next to him, a human male was shaking uncontrollably, asking himself whether they were going to die in the next couple of moments. They were trapped, with no hope of escape, like lambs waiting to be slaughtered. All it would take was one instance, and it would all be over.

Eventually, the demon shifted its black eyes and flew away just like the others from the swarm. Everyone let out a loud sigh of relief, including the angel, who was very glad that what he did worked.

"He couldn't see us," Ana acknowledged to herself, as if she just realized what had happened. "He couldn't see us, could he?" she turned to Elaiel. He shook his head, giving her the understanding that what he had done hid them from the demons' sight, placing them under a sort of an invisible veil.

While everyone recovered from the strenuous amount of tension, Elaiel turned his head toward Christine. Ana as well, trying to figure out what was this all about…

* * *

The next chapter will be longer. I'll probably post it in several parts. Thank you for reading. Until next time, cheers!


	8. Chapter VI: Tantalus (part 1)

Welcome back ladies and gents to my story. Sorry it took so long for me to update. The reason is because I've been working on this particular chapter for some time now. And I've finally managed to complete and finish it. This is what I like to call an episode chapter, written as a TV show episode. It has 6 parts. I wrote it in this fashion because I realized the topic contained is very complex and I would need more than just a couple of pages to fully explore it. Also, this format is a recall to another story of mine from long ago, written in the exact same way. A blast from the past and a tribute to honor former, more simple times.

Anyways, before we get to the story, according to previous traditions, I would like to put some faces to the names in my little tale. Therefore, below you will find the actors I envision portraying my characters:

Elaiel - Sean Faris; Ana - Olga Kurylenko; Christine - Alison Lohman; Sylvia Ganush - Lorna Raver

There are more of such reveals to come. Must note that I am in no way connected to these celebrities. I just merely imagine my characters looking like them, that's all.

Anyways, enough delays. Let's dive right in, shall we?

* * *

CHAPTER VI – TANTALUS

(1)

Christine was just sitting there, with the blankest of expressions on her face, in the same catatonic state Elaiel had brought her. The only action she performed was blinking, once and a while, but it was more automatic, like a reflex, than a conscious choice. Everyone there knew she had been broken in the most horrific way possible, even beyond repair.

In the background, Ana's voice was making itself known in a thunderous manner, spewing anger and frustration at a scale which she never knew could exist. And the target of her vexation was none other than Elaiel. The stranger sat beside them with a large smug on his face, appearing very entertained by what he was seeing.

"I cannot believe you would go to such great lengths to put us in even more danger than you did before."

"I didn't do it to put you at risk!" the angel tried to defend himself.

"There are probably hundreds of those winged creatures out there thirsty for blood. I dare not guess what keeps them at bay from coming here and ripping our throats because I know it's probably another stupidity of yours."

"They're passing over again!" a voice interrupted them from the entrance. Several men were crouched there, keeping an eye on the beasts outside. After their initial pass over the hollow mountain, the flying demons continued to raid the area again and again, hell-bent on finding their escaped prisoner. Ana, Elaiel and the Stranger stepped closer to see for themselves. Indeed, the black swarm covered the skies above once more, some roaring through the clouds, others travelling near the ground level, inspecting everything in their path.

"This is the twelfth time they're passing by and not once did they notice us." a human male added. "How can that be?"

"They can't." the angel explained. "I put this entire mountain under a veil. It blocks their view and their senses. They perceive this mountain as any other out there."

"Regardless," Ana intervened "it changes nothing. We are stuck over here, trapped like lambs waiting for the slaughter."

"Ugh… poor choice of an analogy to use in hell." the stranger indicated with a subtle smirk on his lips.

"I really don't know what is so hilarious." Ana hissed at him. "Those things don't seem like they'll give up. What's going to happen? Will they find us if they persist long enough? How long is your veil going to protect us? Damn it, you two have brought us nothing but trouble ever since you showed your faces. I guess I understand now what happened to her." pointing to Christine. "She crossed paths with you."

"Actually…" the stranger attempted to explain but got quickly cut off by Elaiel.

"She's my responsibility!"

"Like hell she is" the Russian woman spat. "You're the last creature I expect to know the meaning of the word responsibility."

Ana approached Christine, staring down at her filled with sorrow and sympathy. "You poor thing." She recognized the mark hell leaves on a human soul. That mark was all over the blonde woman. Not the bruises or the wounds, but the loss of hope. She had been through such terrible ordeals and tortures that she had completely given up the will to live, to be human. She had lost it in the pain, the anguish and the torment she had been subjected to by the demons. Her eyes were opened but there was no spark of life in them. She was like an empty shell, simply occupying a space and nothing more. Ana also saw in her the epitome of what she was struggling to avoid in hell: to fight against dismay and submission, to resist the darkness of defeat and believe in life and in second chances. To her, that represented the true battle in hell aside from the one against the demons. She hated that Christine was in this state and felt a desperate need to help her, to make her better. She had to.

"Stefan, Mungami," she called for two men. "Please help me take her to my chambers. I will be looking after her."

"Hold on a moment Ana," the latter of the two spoke. "It's obvious that those things out there are after her. And they're not going to stop until they find her. It's like you said: we're lambs waiting to be slaughtered here. As long as she's around, we're all in grave danger."

Stefan nodded in approval.

"I say we throw her out to them before they make another pass." Mungami said peremptorily.

Elaiel, who was still gazing outside, slowly turned his head to him and added in a gentle and calm voice: "You lay your hands on her, you'll be dead before you hit the ground."

"What the hell are we supposed to do then?" the human male expressed his annoyance.

"No one is throwing her outside, alright?" Ana intervened. "She's just like us, Mungami. A lost soul, in need of hope and comfort. Damn it, would you have preferred for me to let those demons get a hold of you when we first met? No, I don't think so. She's one of us and she needs our help. I'm not willing to abandon her just because the situation is rough. Now help me get her to my chambers."

The two reluctantly agree but before they could even get close to her, Elaiel suddenly stepped in front of them with his supernatural speed, blocking their path. The two men stopped and looked at each other confused, in a frail attempt to decide what to do next. To scare them away, the angel casted his celestial white light through his eyes. They glowed heavily and announced his no-nonsense attitude toward the humans' approach. Mungami and Stefan started backing away.

"Elaiel look at her!" Ana barked furiously. "Does it look like she is in a state to be part of your schemes? For God's sake…" She paused to compose herself, taking a deep breath to calm down. Approaching the angel, she resumed in a lighter tone. "Look, you said she is your responsibility. If that is true, if you really want to do something for her, then fix her. I know you can, you're the only one who can do that. If you have a single shred of decency and compassion left in your heart, please, be an actual angel of the Lord for once and fix her."

Fortunately for Ana, her wish matched his agenda. Christine had to be turned back into a sane state in order to reveal the identity of Ahziel's killer. He had no choice but to try to heal her and make her mentally healthy again.

"Alright" he finally answered after several moments of tensed silence. "I'll do it"

Easier said than done though. The method he had in mind to achieve this goal was by no means simple.

TITLE CARD

Elaiel had explained how he planned on helping Christine. The solution left everyone baffled.

"You want to go in her mind?" Ana found all the details hard to believe.

"There is no other way to communicate with her. She shut down after so much suffering and retreated in her subconscious. Going in her mind is the only way I can reach her."

"What makes think you'll accomplish something like that?" the woman questioned.

"You let me know if you find a better way, alright?" Elaiel replied sarcastically.

"I do have a better way. Nurturing her back to health."

"With what?" the angel started to lose patience. "With hugs and affection? Ana, we are never going to help her now if we play it on the long game. My way is faster."

"Faster?" Ana showed confusion. "What do you mean faster?"

The stranger stepped in. "He wants to do it faster so he can find out who he's looking for."

Ana chuckles in disbelief. ""You know, I hope none of the other angels are as selfish and cold as you are. Because… honestly? Seems like the only thing you care about is yourself, you egotistical swine!"

"Don't even presume to know me!" Elaiel spat irritated. "You are in no position to judge! Not after you killed a man in cold blood and took your own life afterward out of cowardice. Believe me, you justly deserve to be here. So it would be wise to cease your deluded self-righteous stance NOW!"

Ana was taken completely aback by his words. He was way out of line, choosing to hit her in the soft spot and doing it without a single speck of remorse. At that point, he fell into the most bottomless pit in her eyes. She had no words to describe how angry and maddened he made her, as she boiled from within, ready to burst out large burning-hot steams. She just stood there and shot him with the most terrifying stare she could be capable of.

"I've got an interesting question though." the stranger broke the silence. "You plan on going into the mind of someone who, like you said, suffered so much abuse and torture that she completely shut down. So, I ask of you: what do you think it's going to be like inside her?"

Elaiel threw him a look of contempt. Realizing he was on to something, Ana and the others directed their attention toward the stranger to better hear what he had to say.

"It can't be rose petals and rainbows over there now, can't it? Probably the opposite, probably much worse. The mind itself is… well, it's like a universe on its own, filled with countless possibilities and nuances. It can create beautiful worlds or nightmarish settings, with full control over them. And you going into the mind of someone who's been tortured and abused so much that she lost all will to live… well… you know what I mean. My point is that you're not off to a walk in a park, my friend. You're taking a big chance going into a very dangerous place. If you're not careful enough, you could lose yourself over there, you could die. You're going to need your full focus to navigate whatever you come across inside her noggin."

"There must be a better way to do this." Ana gazed at Elaiel.

"There isn't. It's the only way. And I am not waiting a moment longer. Not when I'm so close!"

"But if you die, what's going to happen to your veil?" Mungami intervened. "We will be exposed and defenseless. This is a stupid plan."

"Oh that is pretty much thrown out the window already." the stranger added.

"Wait… what do you mean?" Ana anxiously questioned.

"Our angelic friend's veil here is not simply placed like a roof over a house. It is maintained, it requires an extent of energy and focus. But… wait. Didn't I mention earlier that he is going to need all his focus when he goes exploring inside Christine's mind?"

Ana widened her eyes in shock at the realization. "No, please, Elaiel, you have to maintain the veil! Please, there must be some other way" she pleaded humbly.

Effortless. She could read it in his eyes that his mind had been made up. "Don't worry," he replied, venomously looking at the stranger, "I will not compromise the veil. I can do both just fine."

"Look who is deluded now!" the stranger struck back.

"This is such a bad idea." Mungami confessed. "We're all going to die in here like this."

"I don't care what any of you think!" Elaiel lashed out. "I've made my decision and it is final. I am going through with it. And heed me, if any of you tries to stop me… I'll kill you. You can count on that."

Although she had come to expect it from him, his threat had still shaken her. Ana witnessed in his eyes a certain coldness she had come across before. She could not pinpoint what it meant or where she had encountered it in the past, but it was familiar to her. One thing was for sure, he was definitely passing through a rough moment. Perhaps that was why he was displaying such cruelty and selfishness.

Nevertheless, she knew he was serious and ultimately, they could not do anything to stop him or try to change his mind. Their hands were tied. It was settled. The following period was going to be a crucial one, as all their lives depended on the angel and his risky attempt to mentally commune with the catatonic Christine. One mistake, and the swarm of flying demons that was roaming around outside could come and finish everyone off or worse, capture them.

She also felt sorry for Christine as well, having no idea if Elaiel was just going to simply get the information he desired and leave her in the same state. She seemed so lost, so broken, it tore Ana up inside and caused her a lot of empathetic pain. She almost felt like crying thinking there was nothing she could do to help her get better, to let her know that it was ok and that she was safe and welcomed among her group. No. She had to do something, unable to stand like this and watch the blonde woman wrestle in agony and hopelessness.

/|\

In the entrance hall of the cavern they were in, Elaiel placed two medium size stones close to each other. As the other human souls watched on, she carried Christine and helped her sit on one of the stones.

A couple of steps away, Ana approached the stranger. "Looks like the fun is about to begin, huh?" he let out cheerfully.

"Who are you? Why are you here? What the hell is your part in all of this?"

"I really would like to answer your questions but, trust me, it would take a severely long time and you wouldn't believe me either way. So, we might as well focus on more entertaining things, don't you agree?"

His deflecting was nothing out of the ordinary. He clearly was hiding something and was not going to allow any secret to come to the light. What was most peculiar to Ana was his attitude. She found it very difficult to read him and she was no slouch at judging characters. Was he there purely for amusement, like he had been trying to convey to everyone? Then if so, why had he warned everyone about the risks of Elaiel's inability to split his focus? Was he trying to foil his plan? Then why not take action himself against it? Why had he been only talking and doing nothing else? She wished she could have a lengthier conversation with him but it was going to wait. She had other business to tend to.

"Elaiel!" the angel heard his name. Turning around, he saw that it was Ana who had called him. The woman approached him but possessing a more neutral stance than her previous one toward him. "Look," she went on, "I know you made your decision and I don't want change it or stop you. Not that I could…"

He was relieved as he was not in the mood for another argument.

"I just… I just want to ask you to make her better while doing this. I know it's not what you want, that you are after a different goal but, please, you have to help her. She can't stay like this. It's so unnatural, so inhumane…"

Elaiel remain silent, unable to cast a single look at her. She knew her words did not mean much to him. He turned to Christine to make sure she was sitting properly on the stone.

"I know you're going through something." Ana resumed, which froze Elaiel on the spot. "Look, whatever it is, she mustn't pay the price for it, alright? I'm sure she's not the one to blame for what wronged you. She suffered so much here. I'm certain she'll tell you what you need to know without hesitation. Please..."

Expecting a positive answer out of him, the only thing Ana received was: "I need to prepare." She was frustrated but her composure helped her keep it inside. She could have sworn that he was heeding her words. Nevertheless, she did all she could for Christine. Now, she was recollecting all the prayers she knew, for she suspected she, or rather they, were going to need each and every one of them to survive the following period.

As the demonic swarm took another pass outside, Elaiel placed himself on the other stone, facing Christine. Soon enough, he closed his eyes and became as motionless as she was.

"So is that it?" Ana asked.

"Yep" the stranger responded. "It's show time."

Everyone there took a deep breath in preparation for the next couple of hours of waiting in tension. Mungami and several other men were keeping a watchful eye on the skies outside, ready to warn everyone in case of danger. A distinct feeling of dread settled itself among them, as all humans felt trapped and unable to do anything should the demons discover them. Ana continuously thought about how she could save everyone should the worst happen. Ever since she had established her improvised sanctuary, she had never experienced a scenario like this one. All her work could fall apart in the blink of an eye.

As for Elaiel, he knew the risks very well on what he was doing. Submerging his consciousness into Christine's mind was a very dangerous maneuver but it was his only option to find out the identity of Ahziel's killer a lot quicker. He also was aware that he had to be careful with the veil too. One slip, one miscalculation of his focus and the protective illusionary barrier he had placed over the mountain could crack and alert all the hell spawns of their location. And if the avian demons were to detect the cavern, it would all be over. Therefore, as difficult as it was, he had to split his focus into two. Not that he had not done it before, being one of the key training particularities for becoming an elite. But not while probing a very unstable mind frame like Christine. He knew it was going to take his full concentration to achieve a flawless mission accomplishment.

But his train of thought was quickly interrupted by his wish for vengeance. He vowed to make the demon that took Ahziel's life pay fiercely for it. It fuelled his determination and simply pushed him forward to proceed with his plan. Nothing was going to stop him.

And with that, he closed his eyes and dived right in Christine's subconscious. His telepathic vision was flooded with a myriad of flashes, passing him by with the speed of light, like some sort of tunnel that was being traversed. Reaching the end, he landed in what appeared to be a dark, endless region. He felt water at his feet. Looking around, he noticed that the entire ground he was standing over was filled with water and every one of his movements was creating unnatural ripples. It was at this point that he knew he had reached Christine's mind. He could feel it.

"I'm in" he said to Ana and the others.

"You can actually speak to us while you're in her head?" the woman was surprised.

"It's difficult but I can. Hold on… I hear something."

Back in Christine's subconscious, Elaiel's attention was drawn by a distinct noise in the background. He could not tell what it was but it seemed like it had a source somewhere. So, he started walking to it to further inspect. He knew he was making progress for the sound became louder. It resembled four taps, landing in quick succession on some sort of wooden surface, repeating over and over again. After some more walking, the sound became very clear, coming from straight ahead. Elaiel reached what appeared to be a wooden desk. It had a computer on it, a phone, papers, writing utensils and all the necessary stationery materials for an office job. Although he could not see what was causing the taps, he knew they were coming from this particular desk.

The angel approached to give a more thorough look, seeking to find something, anything that would help him get closer to Christine. A set of files were laid out next to the keyboard. Elaiel picked one of them and read the label: "Sylvia Ganush." All of a sudden, the taps stopped. Undiscouraged, he opened the file, hoping to investigate for more clues. The last thing he would have expected when opening a file is to have a horribly disfigured woman jumping out from its contents and attacking him. The startle along with the impact of the woman's push, forced him to crash on his back. She then proceeded to jump on top of him and try biting his face with her rotten, broken but sharp-edged teeth.

"Son of a bitch!"Elaiel cursed on the outside, his head twitching while his eyes rapidly moving behind their eye lids, similar to a person who was sleeping and having a bad dream.

"What's going on?" Ana asked.

"I'm guessing he came across something." the stranger deduced correctly.

With his arms occupied in keeping the emaciated woman at bay, Elaiel positioned his legs so that he can push her off of him over his head. Then, with a forceful movement, he swung her above him, finally breaking free. Using a kip up to get back on his feet, he turned around to focus on his attacker. But what he saw completely baffled him.

He found himself in an office like environment, with several people staring at him like he just got out of an asylum. The dark void from earlier, the water underneath him, the old, disfigured woman… they were all gone. It was like he crossed into a different dimension. Even his attire had been changed, as he was now wearing a human male black suit, with a shirt and tie underneath.

Then, he read 'Wilshire Pacific Bank' in its trademark writing at the top of a wall. It hit him right away as he remembered. That is the name of Christine's bank, where she had worked. But that meant only one thing. He was in…

"Are you alright" he was addressed from behind. Directing his view there, he saw Christine, piercing him with a faint smile on her lips which complimented her bright expression. Elaiel had to take several seconds to distinguish what was happening.

* * *

Part 2 is coming up soon. Thank you for reading.


	9. Chapter VI: Tantalus (part 2)

Wow, that was a long time in between uploads. If anyone is still reading this story, sorry for the delay. I'm back now with the second part of the sixth chapter. As before, I'm writing it in a TV show style episode. So, please leave your thoughts if you lie it. Unto the story!

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(2)

Elaiel knew, upon looking at Christine, that his mission was on the correct path. Her mind was reacting to his presence and that was just what he wanted. Whatever he did to insert himself into this facsimile of her mind, proved that he was on the right track, as he seemed himself a part of this made-up world. Now, he had to keep going forward.

But Christine, however, left him speechless, for she appeared most different from how he had known her. She was in complete contrast to her visage outside, in reality. She was immaculate clean, not a speck of dirt on her, wearing a sleeveless white shirt and a black skirt. Her hair was tied in a fishtail and it simply glowed, having volume and shining like golden silk. Elaiel guessed that it was probably the makeup that rendered him to believe she was much more beautiful than he could have imagined. However, it did not cover the reddish blush in her cheeks, showing how lively and spirited she could be. Her eyes also emphasized that, as life was springing out of them with radiant joy. It was refreshing for him to see her like this. She looked just like in the photos he had seen at Clay's house. Maybe even better. She reminded him of Ahziel. She too had used to gorgeously sparkle like this and he showed to be just as astonished as he was now.

"So, am I going to have to call the ambulance on you or not?" She asked, hinting to her previous question.

"No, no." Elaiel shook his head to recollect himself. "I'm ok. Thank you."

Although he had immediately realized that the office they were in was Christine's work place, the strange thing was… everything seemed so peaceful and settled. The atmosphere of the place was mundane, with regular people doing regular office tasks. Even more, the sun shining outside, visible through the large windows, further added to the serenity of it all, the complete opposite of a mind that has been supposedly tortured and abused to the point of shut down. Definitely what Elaiel had not expected. Nevertheless, he felt as if he had to play along to the script and find out more.

All of a sudden, he heard Ana's voice calling to him from the outside.

"It's alright." He answered her. "Just a minor setback. Everything is in order now."

"Didn't seem minor," the Russian woman stated, "I kept calling you for several times and it was like you were not even hearing me. Not very encouraging considering you have to maintain your focus for here as well."

"I hate to say I told you so…" the stranger stepped in, "No, wait, I actually love it. I told you so."

"Look, if you're having trouble so early, maybe you should abandon this whole thing and focus on keeping us damn safe!" Mungami also participated at the exchange.

"How about you keep your mouth shut?" Elaiel angrily told everyone. "Maybe then you would have some kind of value and not risk all our lives distracting me with pointless crap."

Despite the fact that every one of them had something to say, they instead opted to remain quiet and let the angel proceed undisturbed. Ana tried to conceal her worries in order to reassure her group that she believed no harm would come to them. But deep inside, her concerns were twisting and turning. Elaiel had been very unresponsive to her calls and appeared to have had lost all contact with reality. It frightened her. And she had the feeling that it was going to get worse… much worse. Her doubts about the angel's plan were turning into certitudes.

Back at the bank, Christine, seeing Elaiel still in a daze of confusion, decided to intervene. "Well, you kind of seem like you just fell from the sky."

"No, I'm just… new here. Elton," extending his hand for a shake "pleased to meet you."

"Christine." She responded, smiling. "Don't remember anyone being up for a transfer here. Welcome to the den."

"The den?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah." Another woman approached. "That's how we call the office when Mr. Jacks is not around. He doesn't like that one bit. I'm Nia, by the way."

"Pleased to meet you Nia."

"So where you from Elton?" She asked.

"Tucson, Arizona. Worked for Smithson National as a Client Service Manager." Elaiel thought on his feet and played along.

"Wow, we got a hot shot in the room. Must've been nice to hold an exec position."

"Yeah." Christine added with a hint of suspicion. "Why leave such a nice spot to come all the way over here for regular customer service?"

"Let's just say that I'm looking to hit a personal target of mine."

The two women narrowed their eyes and looked at each other, utterly confused.

"Plus I love sunny California. Always wanted to be here. It's a long-time dream of mine." Elaiel completed in a cheerful way to throw his two interlocutors off their guard.

"Well, you're not the first newbie to arrive here. We got Stu over there," Nia pointed to him "and, so far he hasn't made such a good impression."

"Yeah? Why is that?"

"Because he's a huge ass kisser!" Christine's tone denoted vexation.

Nia followed up. "Not a day goes by where he doesn't insert his nose in Mr. Jax's butt or anyone else who can favor him for that matter."

"Ass-kissing. Bad. Got it." Elaiel acknowledged jokingly.

"Look," Christine said while heading toward her nearby desk, "if you want to fit in here, you're going to have to work your butt off, just like everyone else." Sitting down, she went on: "We're all here to do a job and nobody cares about your personal targets or long-time dreams. Prove that you're an asset to this establishment and nobody will give you a hard time."

Elaiel recognized the desk. It was the same one in the dark void earlier, no doubt about it.

"You'll have to excuse her," Nia interrupted his thoughts, talking more quietly than before, "she's up for the assistant manager position that recently opened up. It's down between her and Stu but judging from his brownie nose, he may have the lead on it."

Elaiel nodded but his mind was more set on Christine's desk. But this time, there were no taps. Furthermore, he wanted to know if the 'Sylvia Ganush' file was on it, like before. The file from which the emaciated old woman attacked him. Were they related to each other in some way? The name, the file and the old woman?

It soon dawned on him that all of these were clues, perhaps offered to him by Christine's mind in an unconscious way to show or express something important. Maybe the identity of the demon that took her to hell. Elaiel was now even more determined to follow these clues and put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Christine?" He addressed her while walking to her desk. "Do you happen to know anyone by the name of Sylvia Ganush?"

The report she was writing on her computer came to an abrupt halt. She stopped, dead in her tracks, and adopted a petrified, frozen expression of dread, as if she had heard the most horrible thing in the world. "Syl.. via Ga.." she stammered and became pale.

Elaiel noticed the sudden change in her demeanor and recognized the look in her eyes. Pure, unadulterated fear.

"I don't… know…" she went on, struggling to speak, held back by paralyzing terror. Fright came out of every pore of her face and forcing her to even sweat.

As an ominous silence swooped in, the four taps suddenly started to make themselves heard again, coming from no visible source. Whatever was causing them, whatever made her so frightened and disturbed, it was clearly affecting her entire mindset. Even Elaiel sensed it, feeling as if a current of unhinging fear just went through him. All his instincts became alert, warning him that there was danger in abundance all around. Had he been in the real world, outside, this would have been the moment where he would position himself in a fighting stance and ready to take on whatever would dare to attack him. But he couldn't do that now, he was in a human subconscious, without any access to his divine abilities.

"Christine?" He tried to get a hold of her.

In the blink of an eye, everything turned back to normal. The taps and the atmosphere of dread completely disappeared, making way to the previous usual serenity. In the same tone came Christine's answer. "I don't know who that is." She then resumed her work on the report, as calmly and composed as she was before.

As for Elaiel, he knew right away that he had just struck a nerve and her mind reacted vehemently to it. He had to find out who was Sylvia Ganush for she, apparently, was a key figure in this simulated reality Christine's mind created.

/|\

Another thing that Elaiel did not expect was the linear progression of time in the simulated world created by Christine's mind. The human psyche, although very much consistent to a degree, randomly jumps from a significant step to the other, failing to maintain a level of continuity or transition. But here, regular time passed exactly the same like it would on Earth. Seconds, minutes, hours… everything was so authentic and real. Which meant that her mind was putting a lot of work and energy into this simulacrum. Further proof that Elaiel was in the epicenter stage of the woman's mental frame.

It was closing time at Wilshire Pacific Bank and everyone was getting ready to go home. The blackish blue nuances of the evening were invading the sky outside as the twilight settled upon the last glimmerings of the setting sun.

Elaiel knew Christine was approaching him. He had been keeping an eye on her all this time. But, not wishing to give himself away, decided to act natural and unaware of her presence.

"Elton?"

"Oh hey. Need more double checks on those loan figures?"

"Neah, I'm good, thanks. I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier today."

"Don't sweat about it." He reassured her while they started heading toward the exit. "It's ok, really."

She continued, "I mean you've been so helpful and nice today after I was so rude, I just… feel really bad. Lemme make it up to you by buying you a hotdog or ice cream or something… anything."

"Al right, hotdog it is." He agreed, as they reached the door to the underground parking lot. "After you!" he waved her forward, allowing her first.

Christine laid eyes upon the door and froze again, adopting the same expression as before, when she heard Ganush's name. Although not as terrified, her eyes widened in anxiety, appearing as if whatever was behind that door was making her extremely uneasy.

"Christine," Elaiel called to her, realizing he stumbled upon another important piece of the mystery.

The woman however showed much more composure than last time. "That's not the way out." Then she turned around and started walking toward the front entrance.

Elaiel threw another look at the door to the underground parking lot, trying to find some way to discover its significance. "You coming?" He heard Christine, beckoning him to follow her.

"Yes." He declared, shaking off his suspicions.

The darkness of the night eventually overcame any light still daring to shine and question its power. Christine had led Elaiel to a hot dog stand nearby. After buying some, they headed down the street, slowly eating their meal and talking. She was like a fireball of enthusiasm and joy, and every word coming out of her mouth was uttered cheerful and with glee. He suspected her upbeat could have been fuelled by the detachment from work but it was more than that. She was naturally displaying her vibrant personality, constantly keeping a smile and softly chuckling at every one of his funny replies. In a way, she reminded him of Ahziel.

She had also succeeded in making him forget about why he was there, and for the longest of moments, forced him to enjoy the time he was spending with her. Soon enough, he had realized that. And when he did, it did not bode well with him. He must not allow his personal feelings to distract him in such a manner.

"So Nia tells me you're up for that Assistant Manager position."

"Yeah, but I'm not the only one. The new guy, Stu, is also on the run."

"Yeah, I've heard." Elaiel added in a disappointed tone. "Can I ask you a complete obvious question?"

"Shoot."

"How in the name of all that is holly did Jacks not assign you already? Are you kidding me? Stu?"

Christine giggles.

"I mean, that guy doesn't have much in the upstairs area, if you know what I mean. Whereas you… You're awesome. You're capable, smart, resourceful… I don't know, if you ask me, there should be no question on who should be the new AM. Why it's still between you and Stu is beyond me."

"Thank you but you give me way too much credit."

"Absolutely not." He stopped to put more emphasis on his words. "You deserve it."

Christine seemed pleased by what she was hearing. She opened her mouth to express her gratitude but her attention was caught by her half-eaten hot dog. Focusing on the edge part between the sausage and the bun, she could not take her eyes off of it, anxiously staring as if waiting for something to happen there.

"You alright?" Elaiel asked, finding himself for the third time in the same peculiar predicament.

His voice did not even faze her, she completely ignored him and continued fixating on the particular spot of the hot dog. Until an eye appeared there and gazed right back at her.

"Son of a bitch!" She yelled startled and threw the hot dog away. Naturally, it landed on a man who was walking by. "Hey!" The latter shouted in frustration.

"What?" Christine fired back, angrily. "You got a problem?"

"It's ok. We're really sorry!" Elaiel reassured the stranger, who paced away mumbling insults at the two.

The angel turned to the woman again. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine!" She sighed annoyed.

"Are you sure? Cause it kind of looks like…"

"Like what?" She interrupted him. "I said I'm fine, alright? Just back off."

"I'm just trying to help." The angel stated innocently.

"Well I don't need it! And furthermore, this little walk of ours is over. I'll see you tomorrow."

Watching her walking past him, Elaiel recognized and confirmed that her mind was not as stable as it appeared to be. All these experiences she had suffered throughout the day were clear signs of disturbances. However, they were purposefully intentioned. He had to follow the lead to reach wherever these clues led and the answers he needed.

/|\

Back in the real world, Ana and the other humans were waiting impatiently. Mungami was pacing back and forth, trying to contain his tension. In opposition, the stranger was a mountain of carefreeness and relaxation, playing tic tac toe with young Tanya, once in a while throwing jabs at Mungami, mocking his uneasiness. The colored male could not wait any longer and turned to the woman in charge. "Ana, come on!"

Realizing there was not any other chance of further delay, she reluctantly nodded and walked over to Elaiel.

"Elaiel, I'm really sorry to bother you but we must know how you are doing. Are you making any kind of progress?"

Her question was met with silence. The angel was as unresponsive as earlier, seemingly too caught up in Christine's mind to be aware of what was occurring in the real world. Mungami, Stefan and the others held their breath. The latter rushed to the entrance, seeking any sign of the flying demonic swarm. The protective veil's failing was on everybody's mind and they did not falter to think the worst.

"Elaiel" Ana insisted, sensing her panic rising.

"It's all going according to plan," the angel finally answered, relieving them of their fears. "Just need more time."

"Hah!" the stranger retorted. "Ain't that unforeseen!"

"We don't have time!" Mungami shouted. "Not with you barely hanging on to reality!"

"I'm fine."

"Sure you are." The stranger added ironically, continuing to play with Tanya.

"What did you find in there?" Ana inquired.

"It's strange. She seems to have withdrawn into some sort of simulated world based on her life. But there are signs, clues… they point to something."

"To what?" The woman showed interest.

"I do not know. I need more time to dig deeper and discover more."

"Will it heal her?"

"I can't know that until I find out what is going on inside her mind. Until then, you need to let me do my job."

"This is beyond ridiculous." Mungami stated. "You can't just expect us to wait around like this. Ana, tell him."

Ana, in spite of all her concerns, chose a different route. "We'll let Elaiel act how he sees fit." Her inability to allow Christine to remain in such a terrible state drove her to rely on the angel. Even though she knew he could fail at any point and the demons would have nothing in their way of invading her sanctuary. But she could not bear in seeing the blonde woman like that and do nothing about it. The angel was her only means to act. As for Mungami and the others on his side, she would have to deal with them for they would not stand this situation much longer.

"To hell with this!" The man added displeased, leaving her sight.

/|\

Elaiel found himself at the bank again. It was daylight outside and the clock showed 9 AM. The setting had immediately changed to this after Christine left him on the street which made him deduce that whenever she was not around, everything changed, as if transitioning to the next chapter of the story. Looking at the calendar, he saw that it was the next day since the one before, when he arrived there. Immediately, he set out to find Christine.

There was a sense of urgency installing upon him. Even though time appeared to be moving a lot faster inside the woman's mind, he could not afford to abuse it, especially when his focus and energy were being drained in such a manner. He could not physically feel it, but he was aware of the strenuous effort of both navigating though Christine's subconscious and maintaining the veil. It was like a ripped piece of cloth hanging by its last threads. And one by one, they were breaking from the pressure. The fact that he barely heard Ana's voice was a clear side effect of his failing condition. He had to hurry.

Christine was at her desk, talking to a young couple, emanating reassurance and confidence. The couple were very pleased by what she had told them, radiating with joy and happiness. Elaiel remembered how Ahziel used to make him feel so good every time he was down or upset. She had a certain power that healed instantly any trace of sorrow or grief, to make him feel as light as a feather and fill him up with all the cheer in the universe. Christine apparently had a similar power.

After the couple left, Elaiel went straight to her. "Christine, I…"

"I'm sorry, I'm busy!" She quickly cut him off before leaving to talk to Jacks, the bank manager. Stu joined them soon after, but proceeded to engage with Jacks while Christine returned to her desk, appearing quite unnerved.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Look, I have a boyfriend alright? So you can stop this whole coming unto me thing because it's getting obnoxiously stupid. So just, go make a pass at Stu or something and leave me be."

She did not allow him to reply, grabbing her bag and leaving in a frantic hurry.

Before Elaiel could decipher what that had been about, he noticed the setting changed again, with several hours passing in an instance. Christine was back at her desk, staring at Stu giving Jacks some tickets to the Lakers game on Sunday, explaining that he cannot use them due to an incident at home. The angel could easily tell the story being a cheap excuse to ingratiate oneself with one's superior.

The returning taps soon distracted his attention. Realizing he had to take advantage and act quickly to find out more about what the meaning of the taps was, he approached Christine. The woman was beyond flustered, restlessly turning left to right as if she did not know what to do.

"What is that sound, Christine?" Elaiel urged her. "Who is Sylvia Ganush?"

Her agitated behavior became increasingly unsettled while the noise started to get louder and louder. She did anything but answer his questions, which vexed him greatly.

"Christine, I can't help you unless you talk to me. Say something."

But she did not say anything at all, being in complete dismay and panic. She slammed her fist against the desk. "I can't stop it!" She eventually let out as tears flooded her eyes.

"Stop what? Christine? Christine!"

As soon as Elaiel blinked, the taps stopped. But somehow, he got the distinct impression the setting of her mind frame changed again. And upon a closer inspection, he was proven right. He was standing in the same spot, next to Christine's desk, but that was about the only similarity to the circumstances from before. Christine was completely different. Her ponytail hair was now tied in a frontal fish braid and her flower shirt got replaced with a simple white one. And then it hit him. She was wearing the same clothes as the other day. Rapidly, he searched the calendar to confirm his theory. And to his astonishment, he was correct. Time had been turned back, approximately a day, as he was now in the same moment he had been when he had first arrived in this simulated world.

"Elton?" Christine snapped him from his thoughts. "You ok?"

Elton. If he was at the exact same time he first arrived in her world, then how come she already knew his name? Even the way she looked at him demonstrated that, as her eyes expressed a tone of familiarity humans do not usually show when seeing a stranger. And why did her mind turned time back a day? More troubling questions, one after another…

* * *

Will be uploading part 3 very soon. Stay in touch.


	10. Chapter VI: Tantalus (part 3)

We return with part 3 of this episode where we get more info on Christine's condition. Meanwhile, Ana faces a difficult choice with her group. Don't forget to favorite and review. It helps me a lot. Now, to the story.

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(3)

The stranger continued to be a puzzling sight to Ana, as she watched him spending time with young Tanya, making her laugh and entertaining her like she had not been since the Russian woman first saw her. He was a natural in it and it made Ana wonder on what was his real agenda, who he really was. And added to that, he was very good at hiding his true motives, extremely good, she thought. Whoever or whatever he was, he was more than the eye met and his presence there was probably as significant as it was mysterious. In a good way or a bad one, they would find out later.

Suddenly, she got distracted by several voices further away. Mungami, Stefan and two other men were talking in a secluded corner, attempting to look as inconspicuous as possible. More concerned than curious, suspecting they were up to no good, she approached to discover what they were scheming.

"What are you doing?"

Upon seeing her, they quickly adopted a shameful stance, just like a child does after having been caught red handed.

"Ana… we…" Stefan stammered.

"We're leaving!" Mungami declared peremptorily, showing defiance to any kind of argument the woman could throw at him.

"Are you crazy? You can't! Elaiel's going to…"

"Elaiel seems way too immersed in that woman's head to even realize if a fly would land on him!" The lead man cut her off. "He won't know."

"Even so, it's still very dangerous. If those flying things get you…"

"I'd rather take my chances out there than wait here like a caged animal ready to be executed!"

"We'll wait for the swarm to pass and then move out." One of the other men stated their plan.

"You must not realize that you're not only endangering yourselves, you're endangering all of us too. If the demons find you, they'll surely trace back your route all the way here. You'll be leading them straight to us!"

"Then come with us!" Mungami suggested. "You know it is the only way. You can't hope to rely on that angel's word. It's good for nothing. He will get us all killed if we don't escape here! It's only a matter of time."

Ana threw a look at Christine. In a sense, Mungami was right. Staying there and waiting on Elaiel was very perilous. But so was taking their chances outside. It tore her in two and she was hesitant to make any kind of decision. However, thinking about Christine, she felt her resolve breaking through. If she would remain loyal to the angel's plan, everyone would end up safe and in good condition, including the fair haired woman. An objective easily lost should she accept Mungami's proposal. Even though every logical argument she had screamed in contradiction, she wanted to believe in salvation for everyone. She had to, it was in her being's essence. Therefore, after letting out a considerable sigh, she responded. "Or we could stay here and let Elaiel finish and everyone makes it out in one piece. You go ahead with your insanity of a plan, odds are all of us could die. I mean how do you know if a demon won't jump on you as soon as you step outside?"

"We can't stay here and do nothing, Ana." Stefan cleared their intention.

"Please, Ana," Mungami pleaded, "come with us. You've guided us and kept us safe all this time. We need you. Think of Tanya, think of everyone you've helped all this time. We can't do this without you. Come with us. Take everybody and leave this whole freak show behind."

"I can't. I won't. And you should not either." The woman's mind was quite made up. It did not take him long to see that and based on her answer, she was never going to alter her stance. But it made no difference to him. He too had his mind made up. "Very well then," he said, fully giving up on convincing her to cross to his side.

"They're making another pass!" Someone alerted from the entrance. The hellish fiends were indeed flying once more above the mountain, studying every corner for any possible trace of their targets. A dozen of other human souls there gathered to anxiously watch the demons, praying that Elaiel's veil will not fall at such a critical moment. At last, spirits calmed down when the black avian stream ended and flowed away, into the distance, allowing all to safely revert back to what they were doing before.

"Now's our chance!" Mungami signaled the other three. "We're going, come on!"

"Mungami, please, don't!" Ana begged, watching them head toward the exit.

He ignored her, extremely determined to get with his plan. Throwing a reassuring glance at Elaiel, he saw that the angel's posture was unchanged, like a statue, eyes closed and motionless, sitting in the same spot as before, next to Christine. Mungami forcefully rubbed his sole against the ground, producing a loud and alerting scrape, as if to check if Elaiel would pay any attention to it. Stefan and the other two rapidly casted their sight upon the angel to catch any kind of reaction. But he offered none. Breathing relieved, the male individuals knew that all they had to do was to get passed the front entrance and they would be in the clear.

Wasting no time, Mungami proceeded first. Just as he was about to walk the threshold, he found himself violently thrown backward by an invisible force. He landed on the ground very hard and was unable to breathe for a couple of seconds. Stefan quickly rushed to him to check his condition. The other two ran away, deeper into the caverns. Ana joined the men, hoping no harm came to pass Mungami. The latter was slowly coming about, helped on his feet.

"The next time I will kill you!" Elaiel threatened. "No one is leaving here or doing anything else until I'm done! Do I make myself clear?"

"Get bent, you son of a bitch!" Mungami yelled with his eyes watered by tears.

"Say it! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes! Crystal!" Stefan answered with a shaky tone. "We won't do it again!"

Mungami shoved Ana and Stefan's arms off of him and left to another section of the cavern. The latter followed him shortly after.

"Whatever you have to say, spare me!" The angel spat, hearing the woman's approaching footsteps.

"I finally recognized it. I noticed a distinct look in your eyes. It felt familiar yet I could not recollect where I met it before. A look of heaviness, meaninglessness, coldness, like there is a hole deep inside you, an abyss that cannot be filled by anything. Whatever was there is now gone and cannot be brought back. And then I realized where I met that look before. In my eyes, when I threw myself out that window. Nothing mattered anymore. There was nothing but sorrow and emptiness. Any ounce of life I had left was gone. And I died way before I hit the ground. It's the same look she has in her eyes." Pointing to Christine. "She gave up. She doesn't want to live anymore so she shut herself down."

"Ana…" He tried to say something but she quickly interrupted.

"Try as much as you can to deny it but you will never convince me otherwise. You don't need to have your eyes opened so I can tell that you have the same look. And all these appalling things you're doing? It's exactly because of it. It's driving you and you're not seeing the fact that the destination is pure darkness. Tell me something: is it going to bring back whatever you lost?"

"Don't!" Elaiel threatened through his teeth. "You are not allowed to talk about…"

"I know that it hurts. But, please… don't stare too much into that abyss, Elaiel." She expressed with genuine concern for him. "It will stare back. And it won't return what you lost. It will only swallow your soul."

Departing from his side, she hoped he would heed her words. Whatever was eating at him was making him take down a road darker and darker. Going out of his way to harm a human to preserve the safety of his machinations was proof alone that he was being consumed by something. And she feared that if he would go deeper into darkness, allowing no room for return or to be pulled out, he would lose what was left of himself. She could not permit that to happen and felt like she had to take action against it. Though it was quite ironic. A human attempting to save an angel? In hell of all places? Nothing short of utter insanity.

But being saved was the last thing Elaiel had on his mind. Vengeance was overtaking him altogether and all he wanted was to discover the identity of the murderer who ripped Ahziel away from him. Then find him and hurl him into the same abyss Ana spoke of.

/|\

"Come on, Elton. What're you, five?" Christine questioned as she filled her glass from the water cooler and then proceeded to head back to her desk. Elaiel was right behind her, matching her pace.

"I know what it sounds like, just humor me. Please." He requested.

The woman stopped and turned to face him, sighing as hard as she could. "Your name is Elton, you're here on a transfer from Smithson National where you worked as a Client Service Manager. Did I win? Was that satisfying enough for you?"

As she resumed her way to her desk, Elaiel could not help but be baffled. Somehow time turned back but she did not turn with it. She had remembered him and where he supposedly had come from, which would have been impossible if she was a part of the temporal parameters of this simulated world. But she was not. Her point of view in this reality was linear and normal, as his was. If that was the case, than she should have remembered everything that occurred before. Therefore, he decided to test that.

"Do you remember that time when you bought me a hot dog? And you threw it at that guy afterward?"

Christine looked confused. "Well I do occasionally buy someone a hot dog but I don't throw them at random guys."

"Sure you did," the angel persisted. "You noticed something, it spooked you and you threw it at that man who was passing by."

"Look," she said rolling her eyes, "if this is your way of saying thank you for the hot dog, than you're welcome. But other than that, I don't have time for games."

"Because you need those loan figures to be double checked, right?" Elaiel suspected.

"What are you talking about? We checked those two days ago."

Exactly as he thought. She had knowledge about events from the past. Yet she failed at recalling the strange incident with the hot dog. Did that mean that all such incidents eluded her memory? Or could it be that she was lying about it, pretending that they did not happen? These were the only two options that came to his mind along with additional question marks to them. Whatever was the case, he could not help but ponder how unintentional the time jump was. The human mind has full control over itself. Nothing is left to chance.

To further test his theory, Elaiel brought on the most important question he could have thought of. "Say, do you remember me asking you about Sylvia Ganush."

Christine met his question with the same reaction, confusion mixed with dread. "Ga…nush?" She asked, stammering. "No… I don't believe you did…" But then she did something new. With pure terror on her face, she set her sight upon the underground parking lot door. An ominous silence settled itself, followed by the distinct taps Elaiel had kept constantly hearing. It was time for a more direct approach.

"Is Sylvia Ganush there, Christine? Is that why you never park there?"

"That's not the way out." She softly confessed while not taking her eyes off the door, every syllable of the sentence dominated by fear.

"Why is that not the way out?"

She swallowed heavily and barely gathered strength to speak. "Because there is a monster over there!"

Elaiel's instincts were again on high alert. They were set like that because of the door and the horror in the air forced him to perceive it as approaching danger. He gazed at it as well for a couple of seconds before returning to Christine.

At that moment, she shook her head and apparently chased away all her fear and the surrounding dreadful atmosphere. The taps ceased too, fading away into the usual sonic background of the bank office. All had reverted to normal in an instant and Christine adopted her usual animated self. "So, if there isn't anything else, I'd like to get back to work." She declared.

"No, nothing else." Elaiel answered. Still interested in the door, he began to walk to it. He had to know if the monster that hid behind it was the demon he sought. As he touched the doorknob, his eagerness was rising beyond usual limits. This is it, he said to himself. He was going to finally find out who killed Ahziel. So, he determinately opened the door with a rapid movement.

In front of him was laid the same black void in which he arrived at the beginning. Nothing else. No further clues, no monster and most certainly, no demon. "Damn it!" He let out in frustration.

/|\

The clock showed 5:50 PM and there were 10 more minutes left until closing time at the bank. Most of the employees had already gone home. Only a few remained to finish up on their paperwork. Among them were Jacks, Stu, Nia, Christine and Elaiel. The latter two were verifying all the asset data on the McPhearson loan and updating the respective files.

Through this, the angel found out another similarity she shared with Ahziel. She was a very capable and smart woman. The entire file was a mountain of arduous labor which couldn't have been done by someone who lacked ambition and passion for their job. Christine was paying close attention to every figure, every word, every detail, and exercised maximum caution evaluating the company's assets for liquidity. She handled tasks as adroitly as Ahziel had used to do and displayed the same amount of efficiency and ability. He started to feel the same kind of admiration he had had for the female angel.

It was not good. Again he found himself comparing her to Ahziel and discovering matches. But Christine was not her. He forced himself to remember that. It was interfering with his objectivity and distracting him, causing his personal feelings to cloud his judgment. He must compose himself and not do anything stupid. Staying loyal to Ahziel and his mission to avenge her was everything that mattered to him. And placing the two on the same pedestal was an offense to his former love.

Nevertheless, he had to remain by her side. The void he saw beyond the door to the underground parking lot proved one thing: the simulated reality only manifested itself according to Christine's point of view. And as long as she was afraid of what was behind the door, her subconscious would not reveal it. The only way for that to happen was to get her to be unafraid and willingly cross over to the other side of the mysterious entryway. And judging from a more rudimentary standpoint, it made sense. Wherever she went, the simulacrum followed. If Elaiel would decide to go exploring on his own, he would not go further than the void outside. This was her mind, the simulated world was based on her vision and would not unveil itself without her. It also explained the time jumps whenever she had left him. He could not experience her world without her. Therefore it forcibly transported him to the epicenter of the simulation: her presence.

One mystery down, several more to go, Elaiel mulled over, while he commenced designing ways in which to convince Christine to come with him to the parking lot. As if things were not difficult enough, now he had to persuade a human mind to do something, right in its own subconscious. He also began to sense how strenuous maintaining the veil was becoming. He had to start picking up the pace.

"Guys, I don't know about you but I'm getting out of here." Nia broke the silence as she gathered her things to leave. "By the way, what are you still doing there?"

"What the hell's it to you?" Christine speared her.

Both Elaiel and Nia were in shock.

"What?" She resumed in the same manner. "If you would actually do some real work around here, you wouldn't be leaving so early. Slouch!"

"Well excuse me if I won't talk to you from now on!" Nia retorted and left offended.

"What's got into you?" Elaiel questioned, completely taken aback by her uncharacteristic rude behavior.

"Just nevermind. So anyways, I think we're kind of done here, right?"

"Uhm, yeah. Final numbers are up along with the listing reports. I gotta say, this is most impressive work. You're going to hit the jackpot with this loan. It will land you the AM position for sure."

"Thanks but… I don't think it's that cut and dried."

"Oh yeah, cause suck-up Stu over there is such an over-achiever." Elaiel attempted to encourage her. "You're going to get the promotion and you know it."

"I don't know. I'm not really famous for reaching the impossible. All my life I've struggled in mediocrity, going from one thing to the other. Not doing anything too meaningful. I mean, you can guess what kind of standards I have when the biggest, most important thing I've achieved in my life, according to me, was losing weight and becoming slim."

"I can hardly picture you fat."

"Oh yeah," she emphasized, "I was Pork Queen at my hometown fairy. Three years in a row."

"Get out of here!" He replied with an ironical astonishment.

"Yeah. After my dad died, my mom kind of lost it. Become an alcoholic… barely kept everything together. I told myself then that I was not going to end up in the same mess as her. So I lost weight, worked my way through college, earned my degree in finances and… here I am."

"Exactly. You did not let fear run your life. You took it head on and made a decent living for yourself. I mean look at you. You have a successful job, on your way to a big promotion, you're more than capable to reach the impossible. Not to mention the fact that you are very beautiful and charming."

"You think I'm beautiful?" She shyly asked.

"Wouldn't think any less. And I'm not coming unto you, don't worry. Last thing I want is your boyfriend's fist in my face!"

They both giggle. "Yeah, I guess he would kick your ass," She assumed jokingly.

"He is one lucky man, I'll give him that." He admitted.

"No, I'm the lucky one really. He's amazing. He's sweet and kind, and always supported me, no matter what the case was. He makes me believe in myself and lifts me up every time I'm down."

"There, you see? You even have a great man by your side. That's not mediocre, that's earning what you deserve."

Elaiel froze while looking into her darkish-brown eyes, as if mesmerized by them. He could not stop, he felt drawn to them. For a second, he caught a glimpse of Ahziel instead of Christine.

"Well, I think it's high time we hightailed out of here, don't you think?" She stated, seeing people walking out of the office.

The angel closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to shake off his visions. This was definitely getting out of hand. Time was wasting and he could not afford to dwell on illusions and projections. He had to start acting. And he knew just the way.

"Hey! What do you say I give you a ride home?"

"I appreciate the offer but I have my own car. And besides, hate to waste your gas."

"Did it take you long to come up with that?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No, seriously, thank you but I got it."

"Nonsense. Come on!" He waved her to follow him. "It would be my pleasure. You can pay me back when you're AM. Save me from paperwork."

"Somehow I knew you had an angle!"

They laughed. Christine's cheeriness completely faded away when he saw Elaiel heading toward the underground parking lot door. She stopped dead in her tracks and stared mortified at the entrance.

"What's wrong?" He inquired although knowing the answer. "My car is parked there."

"That's not the way out." She confessed, beginning to shake.

He approached to try and calm her down: "Hey, hey, it's okay. There's nothing there. It's just a stair case that goes down."

"No, no…" She repeated, backing away.

"Christine, don't be afraid. Don't let fear dictate who you are. You're better than that, remember? You control it, it does not control you." Then, he grabbed her hand. "Look, I'll be with you, alright. Nothing's going to happen, I promise you." Hoping his words were getting to her, he began to pull her forward. She did not resist, but still appeared terrified to her very core.

Elaiel's hand moved inches close to the doorknob. Without any hesitation, he twisted it and pushed it wide open. He heard Christine's heartbeat like a cannon. She squeezed his hand so fiercely, that he could have sworn her nails would go right through his skin. But his main goal was lying in front of him. And this time, there was not any black void anymore. Instead, there was a very short, dim lit corridor that ended in a left turn, down several stairs.

"See?" he addressed her. "No monster. Nothing here. All safe."

More dragging her than Christine walking by herself, Elaiel managed to cross the corridor with her, all the way to the corner that led down the stairs.

From behind it came out a horribly disfigured old woman. It was the same one that popped out of Sylvia Ganush's file and attacked Elaiel. Christine screamed her lungs out and fell on her back, unable to stand on her feet because of the shock. The emaciated figure proceeded to jump on her, knocking the angel over, using everything at her disposal, from fists to teeth, to harm the blonde woman.

Elaiel quickly got back up and attempted to remove the ghoulish attacker off of Christine. However, he got hit so hard that he flew and crashed into the wall. Whatever this thing was, it was immensely strong. Made sense considering Christine's fear of it. Her mind was the one who was giving it such terrible power. It would have been ideal to let her know that she could stop it. But given the horrible ordeal she was going through now, such a thought was foolish. It was up to only him to save her.

Meanwhile, Christine was fighting as hard as she could to get away from her assailant. Using her legs, she pushed the old woman off of her. Then, she quickly turned on her abdomen to better get up on her feet and run. Action which she failed to complete for the other woman grabbed her leg, pulling her victim toward her.

Elaiel had finally reached the two and delivered a heavy blow to the disfigured female. The latter didn't even flinch. No effect whatsoever. Her reply was to vomit a stream of insects mixed with slime directly at his face. Then, with a quick move, she lifted Christine up and brutally smashed her against the walls, over and over.

She was stopped by Elaiel, who simply dived in her, like a spear, and put her down. "Christine, run, now!"

Not needing any more seconds to heed his advice, she got up on her feet and sprinted back to the office. Elaiel rolled off of the emaciated woman and went on Christine's path, out of the corridor. As soon as he crossed the threshold of the door, he grabbed the doorknob to close it. The action needed much more effort than that, for the old female was standing in the way. In such a time, Elaiel wished he had the benefit of his powers. Unfortunately, they were not at his disposal so he had to think of a way to somehow close the door.

It did not take long for him to come up with an idea. Using his hands to prop himself against the doorknob and the wooden frame of the threshold, in order to sustain his weight, he lifted his legs off the ground and used both of them to cast a powerful kick, one that sent the attacker further backwards, allowing him enough time to successfully close the door. But it was not over. Elaiel grabbed the doorknob and held it as forcefully as he could, being sure the disfigured woman would try to open the door. From beyond it, an array of violent hits and dreadful screams came about. In sheer terror, crying profusely, Christine watched the entire scene, praying for the door to remain closed.

And then, the noises stopped, as if the woman gave up and left. An unsettling stillness washed the atmosphere down, carried by the waves of complete silence that refracted from the entire bank office. Elaiel's senses were all over the place, as he continued to squeeze the doorknob, unable to let his guard down.

/|\

Despite Elaie's pleads for a doctor to see her, Christine had opted to be driven home instead. Apart from a couple of bruises, there was not much injury to her. And the last thing she wanted was to be in a public place with lots of people staring at her and nurses scrutinizing her and asking all sorts of questions. It was by far too much attention than she was willing to receive.

The two had taken her car to the woman's home. Elaiel adroitly parked it in her driveway and proceeded to open the door for her and help her get out. Her gait was a bit staggering, still shaking from the ordeal. Yet she managed to compose herself and reach the front door in just a few steps. Before following her, the street caught the angel's attention. He remembered. It was there, the place where Ahziel had fallen. He turned his head away, to Christine, not wishing to be overwhelmed by grief and get distracted.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come inside and stay with you?" Elaiel asked, not wishing to part ways with her again and suffer through another quick transition. Especially now, after the attack, when he had the chance to properly question her about everything. His frustration had been growing inside tenfold when opening the door to the underground parking lot still revealed no answers relevant to him. And somehow, he got the feeling that Christine knew about all of these. She clearly knew there was danger behind the door.

"Yes, I'm sure! Clay will be here soon so…" She left it for him to fill in the blanks as he unlocked her front door and opened it.

"Yes but it would probably be best for me to stick around until he gets here." Elaiel insisted.

"I really appreciate it but I think it's better if you go. Good night!"

"Christine, wait, I just want to ask…" Elaiel stopped his sentence on account of her shutting the door in his face. "Damn it!" he yelled, punching the wooden frame of the door. All these games and hidden meanings were causing him to lose his patience. It was running up to zero as the identity of Ahziel's murderer seemed further and further away. One way or another, he had to get answers from Christine and he was not going to stall him any longer.

Suddenly, but expected by him, the setting was changed to the next day and he was not on Christine's porch any longer, but right next to her desk, at the bank. Hearing the four taps starting off again, he quickly turned to the blonde woman, who was sitting down at the desk, looking back at him with a horrified expression. "I can't stop it!" she confessed, just as before. In fact, the entire scenery was according to the previous time she uttered those words.

"Christine, you have to be on the level with me," he addressed her, "what can't you stop? Who is Sylvia Ganush, Christine? Is she the woman who attacked us last night?"

She was completely unresponsive. He grabbed her by her arms and shook her to snap her out of that state. "Answer me God damn it!"

But it was too late. Elaiel had again witnessed the sudden change of his surroundings, just like before. Just like before, time turned back a day, notion confirmed by the calendar on top Christine's desk. Once more, her attire and hair changed. Everyone was wearing different clothes, the same clothes they had worn a day before. And then it hit him. Christine's mind was stuck in a time loop, repeating the same two days over and over again…

* * *

Hope you guys are enjoying it. Again, thank you. Will be returning with part 4.


	11. Chapter VI: Tantalus (part 4)

Welcome back to my story guys. Things will get pretty tense in this one, as insanity settles in. Or is it insanity? The line between what's real and what's not will be spread pretty thin, meaning trouble for our cave-dwelling souls. But let's not discuss this any further and dive right in. Here is part 4 of this episode/chapter.

* * *

(4)

"She is stuck in a what now?" Ana did not understand.

"A time loop." Elaiel began to shed more light. "It's a self-repeating temporal cycle which causes a person to go through the same experiences of any given period for an unlimited number of times."

All the others gathered round the angel to hear his report on his progress, including the stranger. "Like Groundhog Day." The latter added. "Wait, you don't know that movie." He followed up when noticing his reference was met with confusion.

Ana intervened. "So what are you saying? That she's living the same thing over and over again?"

"Yes." The angel answered.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know. But I'm guessing if I break the loop, I may succeed in making some headway with her."

"Elaiel, everyone is very nervous over here. The tension is too much for us…"

"Look, you wanted me to keep you posted, I am. Other than that, I don't answer to you or any of these people. So accept it as it is and shut up."

"I hate to break this tender moment between you two," the stranger stepped in, "but I gotta say, I'm seeing you a bit stretched thin there, Elaiel. You sure you've been taking your angel vitamins?"

Everyone froze upon hearing his remark. Ana widened her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"He means nothing!" The angel quickly replied, hoping to put an end to the discussion.

The stranger, however, went on. "I mean only that he's looking rather pale and weak from so much effort. Might pass out or something."

"You son of a bitch!" Elaiel shot.

Ana realized what the stranger was hinting at. "Elaiel?"

The angel however chose to ignore her and focus on Christine's subconscious. The humans were becoming quite irksome and he barely had any patience left to deal with their feeble worries and paranoia.

"Elaiel!" The Russian woman shouted this time. Still nothing.

Mungami started applauding ironically. "Well played, Ana. Well played! Glad you decided to risk all of us in such a stupid way."

"You know, Mungami," the stranger spoke, "I really enjoy your presence. But tell me, does it feel good to know that she has more balls than you ever will?"

"Piss off, demon!" The colored man snarled.

"Very clever. No wonder you can't last a single moment without someone holding your hand."

"I'll have your head, excrement!" Mungami yelled and furiously lunged at the stranger. The latter waited until the last minute and then sidestepped, leaving nothing but the cavern wall for Mungami to crash in. His speed was too great and couldn't use his hands to attenuate the shock, impacting his head against the hard stone surface.

"Insecure, selfish, paranoid… You are a yummy treat for demons. They enjoy a good cowardly snack like you. The more afraid you are, the tastier you become." The stranger said, succeeding at intimidating the human male with great ease.

Still on the ground, Mungami looked at him and could never be angrier than he was at that particular moment. He was so vexed, tears began to water his eyes, as he felt helpless and humiliated.

"You gonna cry, big boy?" Then, he began to imitate him in a grumpy voice. "Things not going my way so I'm taking my toys and going home! Screw all of you!"

"Stefan, get this guy!" Mungami called with his voice cracking.

"My goodness man," the stranger reverted to his normal tone, "would you want someone to come with you to the bathroom as well? Then again, what should I expect from someone who is a champion at chickening out and running away every time. I mean, that's what you did when you were alive, it's what you're doing now, in hell. When the going gets tough, Mungami tucks his dick between his legs and goes flaccid. Must be the reason you landed here. You make me sick, get out of my sight! Go on now!"

Mungami hurried up on his feet and cowered away, covering his face to hide his tears from all who were present there. A few feet away from this, Ana was bewildered by what she had just witnessed. This mysterious stranger just stepped in for her and assisted her in a delicate moment. Mungami had been questioning her authority again and again and now, everyone else had seen him do it. If the stranger had not exposed him for what he really was, she would have had a major problem in maintaining spirits calm and keeping the rest of the humans in line and safe. In other words, he had just averted a great deal of problems. And there was another issue. Ana could not read him, but she could not feel any kind of malevolence from him either. No danger, no threatening aura, not even a single ounce of evil to alert her instincts. Whoever he was, he was not there to cause harm and she was sure of it. And his intervention with Mungami further proved her impression. But why? Why help in such a manner? Ana was at this point ecstatically curious to know who he was.

/|\

When Elaiel heard Christine screaming from the cafeteria room, he almost knocked over Nia in getting there. Ready to face the disfigured old woman again, whom he suspected could be Sylvia Ganush, he was quite surprised to find only Christine and Stu there. "What's going on?" He asked while the others arrived shortly after.

"He hit me!" Christine whimpered.

"What?" Jacks inquired perplexed. "Stu, is that true?"

"She's crazy. She's lying! I never touched her! She slapped herself, I swear." The man answered visibly distraught.

"He's lying!" The blonde woman fought back. "He stole the McPhearson file off my desk and planned to give it to First National. He said he will kill me if I say anything about it. When I refused, he hit me!"

"That's not true, I swear!" Rubin defended himself, bursting into tears. "I didn't steal anything."

"Check his desk. Top drawer." Christine indicated as shaken as he was.

Elaiel made his way back to the office area, straight to the man's office. Opening the drawer, he indeed found the McPhearson file buried under several papers. He pulled it out and showed it so everyone could see.

Stu gaped at it, unable to trust his eyes. "That's not possible… I didn't… Oh my God! She planted it over there! Mr. Jacks… please… you have to believe me! I would never…"

"I think it's time you pack your things and leave, Mr. Rubin!" The Manager stood firm on his ground. "You are no longer an employee of this facility!"

"Mr. Jacks, please… No! Don't do this!" Stu began despairing, dropping on his knees and grabbing Jacks' leg with his arms. "My father will kill me!"

"Security! Get this man off of me!"

With Elaiel's help, the guards threw Stu out in a brutal manner. The latter cried and begged as much as his throat allowed him to but it was all futile. Meanwhile, Nia helped Christine back to her desk and checked if she was alright. Jacks offered her the day off but she politely declined and confessed she only needed a minute before going back to work.

"Let me know if you need anything, anything at all." The manager added before leaving her side.

"Thank you sir!"

"Listen, honey," Nia spoke, "I'm going to go buy you a muffin from across the street. And don't say no because I won't have it. Desperate times call for sweet measures."

Christine laughed and watched her colleague depart to the bakery in front of the bank. She did not remain alone for long, as Elaiel approached her, with a peculiar look on his face. She did not recognize it. "What's wrong, Elton?"

"You want to tell me why you framed Stu like that?"

Christine felt her jaw dropping to the floor. "What?"

Elaiel chuckled ironically. "Let's skip the part where you act all innocent and oblivious and I tell you it doesn't work on me."

"Elton, what are you saying? He hit me!"

"CUT the crap!" he fired unwaveringly.

She dropped her view and sighed but when she met his eyes again, she did not radiate fright and shock, but rather a menacing stare. "So what if I did frame him, huh? It's not like Stu was the main choirboy of the block! Was getting sick and tired of him butting in my business and talking about me behind my back!"

"Still, that's not you. You don't do stuff like that. What's gotten into you?"

"You don't know me, okay?" She venomously spat. "You haven't got the first clue of what I'm capable of. None of you do. And if you try to mess with me, you'll end up like Stu boy, on your knees, begging! Now I have work to do. You may be excused."

Although itching to demand answers out of her, he knew he had to leave for he was not going to obtain them now. Her behavior surprised him deeply for he knew she was not the type to cause harm to other people. Pondering on what it could mean both for Christine and the time loop, he realized he had to keep a close watch on her and further inspect such outbursts. Any minor detail could possess vast significance and could be the key to solving the riddle of the woman's mind.

/|\

As noon was slowly running its course and the sun was setting, the bank steadily reduced its buzzing activity. The employees were more relaxed and engaging in trivial banter, preferring to postpone their duties for the following day. This was also the time Jacks began to shuffle through his playlist of swing music, detaching himself from all the stress he accumulated during the day by listening to his favorite tunes, closed up in his office. Outside, people were minding to the last tasks of the day, exchanging humorous lines and generally having a good time, having quickly gotten over the incident with Stu.

The only one who was not in the same tone as with the others was Christine. She was incessantly clicking her ballpoint pen up to the point of obsession, staring at Jacks like a hound would do to its prey. Elaiel had noticed it from the get go, as he had been constantly supervising her, noting every gesture, every movement, every blink. He did not let her out of his sight even for a second. And the way she was eyeing Jacks made him acknowledged that she was about to commit yet another questionable deed.

Suddenly, she slammed the pen against her desk with her palm and got up from her seat. She walked over to the Bank Manager's office and opened the door with forceful determination. Elaiel knew she was making her move.

"May I help you, Christine?" Jacks asked upon seeing her, removing the headset from his ears.

Christine closed the door behind her. "Mr. Jacks, I understand you are under a lot of pressure and are very, very busy, but I have to inquire. Now that Stu is no longer employed here, have you given any consideration to making me the new Assistant Manager?"

"Christine… Why don't we have this conversation tomorrow? I'm sure you must be still shaken up from today and…"

She cut him off. "Mr. Jacks, let me clear out that I am fine. What's done is done and if we hold on to the past, we wouldn't be able to do anything at all."

Elaiel was right outside the door, listening intently while pretending to tie his shoe laces to not raise suspicion.

"Look, Christine," Jacks began, "given today's unfortunate predicament with Stu, I am afraid I am temporarily suspending the position until further notice."

"Why?" The woman more demanded than asked.

"I feel like it created an unhealthy environment in this office and I don't want people to get the wrong idea."

"What are you talking about?" Christine started to show irritation, barely refraining herself from exploding. "Sir, I don't understand. You said that the final two candidates were Stu and I. Stu's gone. I'm here. What's the problem?"

"The problem is, Christine, that I don't want people here to aggressively fight each other every time a promotion comes round."

The woman sighed and pinched the top of her nose with her thumb and index finger, feeling her anger rising. "That doesn't make any sense! I am the only candidate left. And my work with the McPhearson loan makes me the best damn employee you have. Just give it to me!"

"I will not 'just give it to you'!" The man was losing his patience. "And I would advise caution taking that tone with me!"

"You know, I'm curious," she said as she violently slammed his desk with her hands to lean on it, "how the hell did you become Bank Manager when you are such a freaking incompetent, dimwit?"

"Get out!" Jacks rose from his seat, shouting. "Get the hell out now!"

At that same moment, Elaiel stepped in and reached to grab Christine's arm. "I'm very sorry about this, sir." He confessed as he started pulling the woman out of the office. She did not mind him and continued to insult Jacks. "If I was your wife, I would leave you in an instant. Who could stay with such a weak, pathetic fool like you?"

"Get the hell out!" The Manager was at this point yelling like a madman, allowing everyone from the bank to hear him. The others turned their heads to the scandalous scene, observing how Elaiel dragged Christine out of Jacks' office and closing the door. She was laughing like a child contented after making fun of someone else. It was angering Elaiel terribly. He violently shoved her into the wall, the pain forcing her erratic guffaw to stop. He had enough of her.

"I don't know what the hell is going on with you, and frankly? I don't care. You and I are going to your place where we'll have a nice heart to heart. And when I say that, I mean you'll do all the talking." Then, he grabbed her arm. "Let's go!"

The woman opposed no resistance and let him force her out of the bank. It did not take long for them to reach her house with Elaiel running over several red lights. After parking the car in the driveway of the house, he vigorously hauled her inside. Her demeanor was in complete contrast to his. She was calm, relaxed, taking everything with an uncommon carelessness.

"Can I get you something?" She asked, walking toward the kitchen. "I have a scotch in my pantry."

"How about you take a seat?" Elaiel commanded, peering out the window.

Christine failed to comply. She opened the single malts bottle and poured the liquid inside a glass before emptying it in her mouth. Then, she started doing pirouettes, as if dancing to an unheard music.

"What are you doing?" The angel asked standing a few feet away from her.

"I'm loosening up." She admitted, filling the glass again. "You should consider doing that too. You look way too tense." She told him as she began approaching him, handing him the drink. He took it but threw it over his shoulder instead.

"Oh, I see. Maybe you're in need of a different way of loosening up." Christine said, beginning to untie her shirt. Button by button, she slowly revealed her cleavage. "These can help you relax big time."

Eventually, she fully unbuttoned her shirt and took it off, exposing herself almost fully, if not for her bra.

"You know you like what you see." She further tempted him. Then, she took his hand.

"The hell are you trying to do?" He solicited.

"Sh, sh, sh." She urged him to be quiet and placed his hand on her left breast. Elaiel retracted quickly, not sure what to do. "Come on, Elton. I noticed you've been watching me, the way you look at me… You must have dreamed about a moment like this over and over again."

Suddenly, he felt her arms embracing him, the distance between them completely dissipated.

"You must have wondered what it would be like." She began to speak more softly, approaching her lips to his ear. "Me on top of you, riding you like crazy... And just when you're on the verge…" returning to face him, "I'd stop and force you to taste me until it pleases me. And then, maybe… I'd let you unload."

She pushed him right until he fell on the living room couch, with her landing in his lap. Afterward, the woman began to gently kiss him on the slope of his neck. The tingling sensation they created managed to subdue him and make him enjoy how her lips felt against his skin.

"What are you doing?" He barely let out, too stirred to deploy a more successful effort.

"Less talk," Christine placed her index finger on his mouth, "more fun." Then, she slowly drove her hand through his hair, grabbing it and pulling his head backward. "Chris is here for you, baby." She whispered and leaned over to properly kiss him. Too dazed and aroused, Elaiel's vision turned blurry on account of him narrowing his eyelids, a reflex of his full state of relaxation. All he could see was the shape of a blonde woman. He thought of Ahziel, losing track of the fact that it was not really her, but Christine who was sitting on him. Losing any kind of reason or control, the angel permitted her to kiss him.

In the meantime, back in the real world, Ana was lighting a torch in the entrance hall of the mountain cavern. With the corner of her eye, she spotted the hellish avian flock patrolling the skies above once more. She dropped what she was doing and joined the others to watch the flying beasts go by. But just when everyone was about to breathe relieved that they were in the safe again, one of the demons from the end of the flock stopped, looking right toward their direction.

"It's alright." Ana reassured. "Don't worry."

Christine was losing all her inhibitions as she ripped Elaiel's shirt off, its buttons flying in all directions. She caressed his bare chest and admired its firmness. Then, she scratched it, her nails leaving a red line in their wake. It excited him even more and he returned her kisses with much more passion. Guided by her hand, he unhooked her bra and threw it away. "Ahziel…" he moaned, looking at her naked upper half, "You're so beautiful."

"I'm bad." She replied. "I'm so bad."

The humans in the cave were getting more than nervous as the demon continued to cast thorough glances right at them. Questions like 'can he see us' or 'is something wrong with the veil' echoed from the crowd just as their uneasiness.

"Everybody please don't worry!" Their female leader pointed out, attempting to keep their calm in check.

"Doesn't look too good." The stranger took the words right out of her mouth.

The intimate activity between Elaiel and Christine got more intense with each passing kiss. After she undressed him of his shirt and tie, she resumed scratching him and even connected it with a few bites here and there, much to his enjoyment.

"I've been really bad, Elton. You should punish me."

He didn't mind her, kissing and licking every inch of her chest which satisfied him more than he thought possible, considering how he thought she was Ahziel. He never thought he would feel like this again, so released, so enthralled, so happy. Her touch and moans of pleasure added to his pleasuring state and he contributed as much as he could to make her do it more. He was in the arms of the one he loved and cared so deeply.

To everyone's dismay, the demon started making its way straight toward the cavern entrance. Panic ensued among the humans as they took off toward the deeper sections of the hollowed mountain. "Elaiel!" Ana shouted, remaining behind. But to no avail. The angel was comatose. Her heart stopped.

When Christine bit painfully hard into Elaiel's lower lip, he stopped and put her at a safe distance from his face. Seeing blood on the finger he used to check the damaged area, he realized things had gone too far. It helped him wake up from his daze and understand his surroundings. He knew he had made a crucial mistake to let himself slip out of reason like that and lose himself in fantasy.

But then, a more critical thought came to his mind. "The veil!"

"Elaiel! Elaiel, come back!" Ana cried out, having had resorted to violently shaking the angel to revert him to the real world.

"This might get unpleasant." The stranger indicated, observing how the avian fiend was getting closer and closer.

Suddenly, Elaiel raised his hand and trained it toward the entrance, clenching his fist. At the very same moment, the demon stopped, appearing to be most confused, as if everything in front of it vanished into thin air. Ana felt an eternity passing by her, watching the creature gazing every possible angle with his sight.

After releasing a short growl, the beast flew away to rejoin its kind. Ana let out probably the longest breath she ever exhaled, collapsing on her knees from the strenuous tension suffered.

Elaiel, sensing the creature's absence, returned to Christine's subconscious. He could hear in the background Ana's furious shouts but decided to leave them there, being more vested in what was occurring with the other woman.

Despite Elaiel's push, Christine continued to further sexually engage him. "I must be punished." She remarked, "I've been a very bad girl!"

"That's enough, please stop." He requested, beginning to jerk away. But she would not have it. She went directly for his pants' belt and untied it. "You can punish me, right?" She followed on the same idea, with rapid movements that showed her ravenous appetite for intercourse. "Just do me, Elton. Show me how bad I really am."

"No, please… Please stop." The angel rejected her but just like last time, it was useless. He even tried to contain her with his hands, which he thought was a clear sign of refusal, to persuade her to back away. It did not. It almost looked like a struggle, with her applying more and more force to achieve her goal and with him having to catch up to her actions and reacting late.

"I deserve punishment, Elton. I was horrible… A real bitch!"

"Christine, no!" He kept resisting.

In the process, she slapped him. Beyond perplexed, Elaiel could not find the explanation as to why she was acting this erroneously. Her behavior was totally out of control and the way she was forcing herself on him was abnormally unlike her. Especially knowing that what she was doing would cause Clay great harm, a person she loved dearly. Why would she do that so willingly? And the way she kept admitting that she had been bad and needed to be punished was very odd. As if she believed it. As if she actually had to be disciplined for whatever sins she may have committed. But why?

"Come on, Elton!" She hit him again. "You can punish me, right?"

"Hey, stop that!"

"Just do it, Elton! What's the matter? You getting all squeamish about being physical with me? You weren't so reserved at the bank when you slammed me against that wall."

She attempted to slap him one more time but he blocked it. "I said, enough!" He pushed her so heavily that she landed on the floor. As soon as that happened, she burst into tears.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Elaiel raged, getting up from the couch, not noticing her crying. "Why are you acting like this? Why are you trying so hard to make everyone hate you?"

"Because I'm evil!" she spat through sobs. "I'm evil…"

Finally seeing her breaking down, he eased up and calmed himself. What she had said rekindled his hope to obtain concrete answers. The answers he had been longing for ever since he had arrived in her subconscious.

* * *

Well, done with part 4. Only 2 more parts to go. What do you guys think of all of this?


	12. Chapter VI: Tantalus (part 5)

Hello, friendly readers. We return to our faithful story, picking up where we left off. In this part, Elaiel will get some much required revelations. But is knowing everything enough? Find out in this new part of chapter VI. The next part will be the last one of this chapter and after that, Elaiel will finally get what he wants. So stick around.

* * *

(5)

Elaiel finally felt like he was making headway with Christine. It sure was about time, as his powers were more than stretched thin. And the distraction he suffered when he was close to the woman almost cost him his entire mission. He had to focus, put his head in the game. On the other hand, Christine's resemblance to Ahziel was striking. She looked exactly like his former lover and it proved quite difficult to not feel sympathy or longing for her. It was a liability, for sure, but he could not help himself. It was almost like he was experiencing a second chance. A delusional second chance.

Nevertheless, for the first time, he knew she was going to provide him the truth. So he shuffled his thoughts aside and decided to concentrate on his questions. And besides, he had to hurry or he would not last much longer.

"Come on, don't stay down there," he picked her up from the floor. Then, he gently sat her down on the couch while getting his blazer to cover her exposed upper half. Thinking that a glass of water would help her cool down, he quickly travelled to the kitchen and fetched one for her. It aided her, for she stopped weeping.

"Christine… why would you say you're evil?" Elaiel asked as he sat next to her.

"Because I am." She replied with a trembling tone. "I destroy people's lives."

"How can you say that? You didn't destroy anyone's life. You are…"

His stream of thought was stopped by one of the buttons of his blazer. It hit him. The button Clay had showed him… it was a cursed object. She had been cursed, with a malediction specific to the ones gypsies use to take revenge on those who wronged them. They would call down a malevolent entity to torture the victim and then drag them to hell for eternal suffering. 'Idiot' he mentally cussed himself for omitting to remember that fact.

With all of these, Elaiel also deduced that Sylvia Ganush was probably the gypsy in question. One and the same as the emaciated, old woman that had attacked them at the bank. Whatever Christine had done to her when she was alive, it warranted vengeful retaliation. And in the end, it had been successful. And she had paid the price for it and had been dragged into hell. It explained everything. The entire simulated reality locked in a time loop her subconscious created was based on her guilt over what had transpired with Ganush. It had even gone so far as to depict the gypsy woman as a frightening monster. It was now that Elaiel realized how much Christine had been affected by all of it. That was why she believed she was evil and deserving to be punished. The remorse was probably overwhelming.

Light had also been shed to the reason on why her mind chose to retreat to this simulacrum after having had shut down from the level of trauma and torture caused by the demons. She must have been constantly wishing to go back and change the way things had turned out. 'Of course' he said to himself, understanding the meaning of the time loop as well. Her mind was in a constant struggle, conflicted between changing the past and being aware of the impossibility of achieving it. Thus, she was blocked in a poetic self-repeating punishment, forever living her mistake but unable to undo it.

The rest of the details that needed to be cleared became a simple formality. Elaiel realized now that he had to get her to face the truth and move on, to accept her fate and return to reality. It was the only way he could get her to give him the answers he so desperately sought. His enthusiasm increased tenfold and he felt as rejuvenated as ever to carry on with his mission.

But before he could proceed further, the taps made their comeback, echoing through the desolate silence of the house. Startled, the two began to look for where they came from. But the lights abruptly got turned off and with night taking over day outside, there was no distinct illumination source to help them spot the encroaching danger. Whimpering, Christine grabbed Elaiel's hand and squeezed it. She was not ready to go through an attack again.

"It's OK. I'm here with you." Elaiel comforted her. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Like before, the taps grew louder and louder, as did the tension in which the two found themselves in. The angel's instincts were sounding all possible alarms to him. The dread he had felt before filled the air again, with ominous glooms and radiations. And the fact that he could not see much compelled him to expect the worst, to believe that an attack could come from anywhere.

And then… the taps stopped. The only thing that was producing any noise was Christine's shallow breathing. The newly appeared silence was not helping them put their nerves to rest. It only contributed heightening their anxiety in anticipation of the disfigured woman's assault. They waited still, attentive to anything that would make the slightest of movements. But to their surprise, nothing happened. Several good minutes passed without any kind of incident, despite the fact that the tone of the atmosphere remained just as menacing.

"I'm going to go try the light switch." Elaiel announced.

"No, please, don't leave me!" Christine begged horrified.

"I'm not leaving. I'll only be a few steps away. It's unwise to stay in the dark like this."

The angel barely got loose from her grip, as he walked over, still wearing just his shirt, to the wall where the light switch was. He flipped it and, to both of their surprise, it worked. The lights turned back on. A hair-raising, chilling scream resounded from the couch. When Elaiel spun on his heels to investigate what had happened, he witnessed how the emaciated woman's head was coming out from the cushions of the couch in an impossible manner.

With a deft move, the abhorrently looking female jumped out of the couch and landed exactly on Christine, proceeding to strangle her. Elaiel rushed to them, successfully removing the attacker off of the blonde woman and pushing her aside. Then, he noticed how the old woman released an unnatural roar and climbed the wall to the ceiling in a spider-like manner, making its way to the adjacent room.

"It's ok, listen to me!" He tried to calm Christine who was crying uncontrollably. "You can stop this." Several more frightening growls and shrieks came from the other room, distracting the blonde woman. "Don't listen to that!" Elaiel urged her. "Listen to me! You don't have to be afraid. You have power over all of this."

Realizing that she was never going to focus on his words properly, he thought a change of scenery was a wise choice. He had to get her away from Ganush to be able to make his point. "Come on!" He grabbed her and made a beeline toward the back door, proceeding outside. In between steps, Christine peeked behind her and witnessed the attacker chasing them on all fours, on the ceiling.

They exited the house and entered her backyard shed. Elaiel grabbed the shovel in the corner and propped it against the door handle to block the entrance. In the meantime, Christine, standing right in the middle of the shed, got an odd feeling of deja-vu mixed with dread staring at her surroundings.

"I don't think we were followed," Elaiel declared after he had carefully listened with his ear pressed to the door for any kind of noises outside. Then, he approached her. "You gotta hear me out, Christine! None of this… what?" He noticed her looking at the curtain behind him. "What's wrong?"

She did not answer, choosing to simply shake and whimper in fear rather than doing anything else. Elaiel's first thought was to show her that nothing was there. But the happening at the bank, on the way toward the underground parking lot, made him think differently. He was not going to be taken by surprise again. Therefore, he searched for a weapon. He picked up an old led pipe on the table there and signaled Christine to be quiet. With a swift movement, he removed the curtain and began swinging the pipe with the sole intention to kill whatever lay there. But the metal object only hit air and a couple of mounted shelves with fertilizers. The spot was empty.

Turning around to face Christine again, Elaiel saw how Ganush dropped from the ceiling and crashed on her. Both women were down, with the disfigured one on top of the other, like before. The angel locked his target in his sight and split the air in two with the pipe, to swipe it on Ganush's back. To his amazement, not only did she caught the object in her hand, he took it clean out of his grasp and addressed a heavy blow, striking his jaw and sending him on his back. Returning to her previous target, she now used the stolen led weapon to beat her, hitting everywhere she laid eyes upon with a horrifying ferocity, continuously shrieking 'szajha'.

Her brutal attacks were interrupted by Elaiel who floored her with a flying kick. Before she got up, the angel used a rake to impale her, pushing her against the wall and pinning her there. Ganush was howling like a beast at him. But he was not impressed. Jumping as high as he could, he administered a powerful drop kick, one that sent the disfigured woman through the wall of the shed, straight outside.

When it appeared that he had incapacitated his opponent, he jumped to his feet and switched his focus to Christine. She was visibly shaken and disturbed but otherwise fine, no major damage inflicted upon her. "It's alright." He reassured her. "You're safe."

"This is all my fault!" She confessed through tears.

"No, it's not! This is not your fault!"

Unbeknownst to them, beyond the whole in the wall Elaiel made, Ganush quietly raised from the ground. After removing the rake implanted on her chest, she defied all laws of physics by unnaturally leaping back in the shed, heading right at the unsuspecting two individuals who failed to hear her incoming attack. She landed on them, knocking them down in the process. The battle now transitioned on the floor, with all three of them squirming and crawling chaotically. Elaiel started to kick the gypsy in the head while Christine struggled to release her ankle from her clutching grasp.

Exasperated by the lengthy extension of this fight, Elaiel proceeded to get the same shovel he used to block the door. Then, taking advantage of Ganush's lack of attention, he began bashing her head with the metallic blade. Not only did it manage to stop her, it opened her skull wide, as all kind of fluids flew out with each strike. Her body displayed frantic convulsions. A pool of blood oozed out and covered the entire floor. It forced Christine to vomit in disgust and grievance.

When there was barely anything left of Ganush's head, Elaiel stopped, dropping the bloodied shovel to a side. Once more, he walked over to Christine to verify her state, breathing relieved to see her in one piece, unharmed. "It's over." He told her.

"No it's not. It never is!" She sobbed. Her eyes widened in absolute shock when she gazed at the old woman again. "Oh my God! Oh my God!"

The body was not there anymore, as if it had vanished into thin air, along with the pool of blood that amassed under it. Unlike Christine, Elaiel was not surprised at all. Even the shovel he had used was immaculate clean, not even a drop of blood on it. Of course it all appeared so shocking for her, unaware that everything was a figment of her subconscious. Notion which put Elaiel back on track with his newest goal: to make her see and accept the truth.

The newly found silence aided them in hearing a vehicle engine coming from the front of the house.

"Oh God… that's Clay. I forgot he was supposed to come over tonight." She indicated, quickly sprinting to open the door of the shed. "You have to go, Elton. I don't want him to see us like this."

"Like hell I will!" He opposed.

"Look, I really appreciate everything you've done for me, but you need to just go. Please! I've been through enough already. I don't want to lose him." She begged, refraining from crying. "Not him."

"I don't care about that!" Elaiel stood his ground. He could not afford losing more time. Reality was slipping away, slowly but surely, barely hanging by a couple of last remaining threads. "To hell with what you want. You are going to give me some answers, RIGHT NOW!"

Suddenly, the backdoor of the house was heard opening.

"Please, you gotta go now!" Christine desperately pushed him toward the hole in the wall he made during the altercation. She was not achieving anything though, as he was unmovable.

"Stop it! I'm not going anywhere."

"Go now! Go now!"

Elaiel was amazed on the level of strength she was displaying to save her relationship with Clay, especially after the gruesome ordeal she had had with Ganush. It confirmed that she really did love him. But it was of no consequence to him. Relationship or not, she was going to reveal what she knew.

However, something occurred that changed his mind. The ground started to shake, making everything in the shed rattle and tinker. The intensity grew directly proportionate with Christine's attempts to chase him away. Elaiel developed a theory as to why an earthquake would start now of all moments but he needed more to draw a conclusion. The final confirmation came when large ripples appeared all around them, as if reality itself was breaking apart. Only then he abundantly clarified his theory. Christine cared so much for Clay that she did not want him involved in the insanity of her simulated reality. He was a beacon of normalcy and happiness for her, the only constant in her life, and she desired to keep him safe and unexposed. Thus, when Elaiel refused to leave, he was risking bringing Clay into the entire ordeal, a fact completely undesired by Christine. Therefore, her subconscious acted out on it and began to break the simulacrum apart. The angel realized if he did not leave, he could induce massive trauma on her mental frame and ultimately render her brain dead. A useless state in which he would definitely not acquire any kind of information. With reluctance and frustration, he accepted the fact that he had to leave. Even if that meant further delay.

He stepped outside the shed, through the hole. As soon as that happened, the landscape changed again. He was at the bank, the very next day, and there were neither earthquakes nor reality breeches. Everything seemed normal, a usual day like any other. "Damn it," he swore at the situation, vexed beyond normal measure.

He heard the taps sounding off again. As he turned around, he saw that he was standing close to Christine. She was sitting at her desk, her face buried in her hands. Sensing his presence, she lifted her eyes to him and showed how dismayed and disheartened she truly was.

Elaiel engaged her directly. "Listen to me, you can stop this. You and you alone have the power to end all of this."

The taps followed their regular pattern and grew louder.

"No, I can't. I don't know!"

"Yes you do!" Elaiel retorted. "You know what to do!"

She began to fearfully look in all directions, most hesitant to even breathe.

The angel's patience was running out. "Damn it, Christine, you have to…"

He was cut off by the lightning-fast changes to his environment. Everything got different in a blink of an eye.

"What do I have to do?" Christine was standing in front of him, waiting curious for him to finish his sentence. When he saw her and her attire, he covered his face with his palm and let out a long sigh. Her altered appearance meant only one thing: the loop reset and time had turned back again.

* * *

Next part, the conclusion of this chapter. Will Elaiel succeed? Tell me what you think.


	13. Chapter VI: Tantalus (part 6)

Welcome back, y'all. Hope your life has been great. We now return to my story, with the final part of chapter 6. Having gotten to the bottom of Christine's mental time-loop, Elaiel must now find a way to wake her up from it, both figuratively and literally. Will he be able to? Will he finally learn the identity of Ahziel's killer? Read and find out below.

* * *

(6)

Time was running out. Elaiel felt his control over the protective veil would soon fade away completely. If that would happen, the flying demons searching for him would be able to detect him without any kind of trouble. One last thread left. If it broke, all would be over. Not to mention that he had lost all contact with the real world and was not able to see what the humans were up to. That is why he opted for the most direct approach possible when challenging Christine for answers again. However, she was not reacting as he had hoped, looking at him confused and bewildered. "Honestly, I have no idea what you're talking about." She confessed indifferently, sitting down at her desk and operating the computer.

"Come on, Christine," Elaiel persisted, not falling for her negations anymore now that he knew the truth, "I know you remember everything. You just don't want to admit it."

"Is this some kind of sick, twisted way to make the people from the new work place like you? Cause I'm telling you right now, it's not going to work."

"You're in clear denial and you know it!" The angel accused her. "It's not helping you, Christine!"

"OK, you are definitely out of line," she indicated, "and I have a lot of work to do so I suggest you let me get to it, thank you very much!" She turned to her monitor and devoted her full attention to it, signaling him that they were done talking and that he should best be leaving.

It was not going to be so easy this time to get rid of him. As each passing second was a critical one, Elaiel grew more and more desperate. Unwilling to waste further time, he decided to unplug her computer and take away her source of distraction so she can properly heed his words.

"Excuse me!" She cried out annoyed. "Who the hell…"

He did not allow her to finish. "You can lie to yourself as much as you want. But you certainly cannot lie to me. I know that you're aware of everything. You know what's going on here."

"What are you talking about? What do you want from me?" She questioned grudgingly.

"To face the facts! To stop running away and acknowledge the damn truth!"

"What truth? I don't understand!" Christine followed up quite frustrated.

"Oh come on, Christine!" Elaiel could not stand the exasperation anymore. "This," showing her the computer cable, "your job, the AM position, the bank and everyone here, the city outside, your car, your home, your life… all of it… It's not real!"

Overtaken by shock, Christine did not have the power to reply. She lied frozen on her seat, unable to make the slightest of movements, struggling to grasp what had been revealed to her. Furthermore, she noticed that all the other bank employees, her colleagues and friends, simply disappeared. From a vibrant and lively location, the office was now desolate, deserted and quiet, a very unsettling scenery. She could not believe her eyes.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Ana was facing a rather large group of people in the main cavern near the entrance. "You are making a big mistake, you know!" She addressed them with a disappointed disposition.

"Maybe," Mungami responded, at the head of the group, "but it's better than staying here."

"Do shut up and don't speak on their behalf, you little wimp!" The stranger jabbed him. "You are the last person to be the voice of the voiceless. You stink of fear."

Not minding him, Mungami continued to speak with Ana. "You can join us if you want to. You don't have to stay here and die with the others."

"I'm not going to leave them." She was determinate. "I made a promise to keep them safe no matter what!"

"You CAN'T here!" The man spat. "Not you and certainly not that stupid angel you keep counting on. The last time the demons passed here, his veil turned out to be useless. Do you really want to be here for a next time? Cause I guarantee, you won't be that lucky anymore."

Ana casted a deeply saddened glance, which he quickly deciphered it to be a cut and dried refusal. More than that, she was in pain. The people she had managed to save and shelter all this time were like a family to her. She cared for each and every one of them and the notion that they were leaving planted a sorrowful sentiment inside her. Not only was she never going to see them again, they were walking outside where they would be subjected to even more risks. It was certain death. And she could not do anything to prevent them from departing. In a way, she was seeing them off to their demise. Her heart was breaking but she could not express her emotions. She had to stay strong and inspire the others remaining behind to do the same and not lose their hope.

"Fine," he said with a cold finality. "Then I guess this is goodbye."

Ana resented his behavior and the manner in which he had just turned his back on her to join the departing party. It was like he had no discernment of the impact of their leaving and what it was putting her through.

At the same time, Elaiel had noticed that the woman's resistance was starting to crumble. She could no longer ignore the facsimile of her subconscious and he knew he had to press on to shatter the illusion completely. "You know, don't you? You know that none of this is real. You know where you truly are…"

"Stop it!" She fired, rising from her desk. "Just stop it! Who the hell do you think you are to come here and accuse me of being crazy? You're a nobody who knows nothing! What, you think if you spend a couple of days with me, you have the scoop on my life's story?"

Christine commenced screaming, being beyond infuriated. She turned red, hyperventilating and gesturing emphatically. The veins on her neck protruded almost to the brink of bursting. Elaiel knew this was a side effect of her finally accepting the truth.

"You're just a sick bastard who has to latch on to others to accomplish something worthy!" Christine continued her angry barrage. "You're incapable of doing anything truly significant yourself. That's why you've been spending so much time with me lately. You have nothing and no one."

"I thought we just barely met." The angel caught her slip without any trouble.

His statement enraged her deeper. "That's not the point, you moron! God, why are people so stupid? Seriously, did your mother drop you as a kid? I mean, how the hell did you make it this far in this business? And you have the nerve to come here and call ME crazy? Do you know how brilliant I am? I'm better than all the people in this office combined. I should be running this place!"

Elaiel released a sarcastic chuckle. "And why aren't you? If you're so perfect, how come you're sitting at a desk like all the rest of us?"

"Because of idiots like you, Stu and Jacks, standing in my way, constantly dragging me down with your stupidity."

"Excuses." The angel firmly remarked.

"Come again?" She appeared heavily annoyed.

"You heard me! Nobody is to blame but yourself. You think people are dragging you down? No. You're responsible for that. You and you alone. Because you just can't bring yourself to believe that you deserve anything important."

The only effect his words had on her was to interrupt her fit of rage and silence her. Not only that, they also stirred a vast series of flashbacks and images regarding her efforts to obtain promotion. She realized that no matter how much she struggled to get the Assistant Manager position, it would always elude her.

Elaiel pressed on. "So many opportunities… all of them ending up a bust. You trapped yourself in an endless loop of self-punishment, forever torturing yourself with fake second chances… which are only illusions. And every time you get close to fulfillment, you sweep the rug under your feet because you don't think you're worthy to actually be happy. Because you think that all you deserve is to suffer. Suffer for what you've done."

The woman maintained her state, being taken aback by everything the angel was telling her. Her memories brought her all the way back to when she was alive and to the catalyst that marked her final days on Earth. She could not bear the unburied feelings so she proceeded to leave.

"Sylvia Ganush," Elaiel said quickly to stop her from walking away. He had a feeling uttering the name would freeze Christine on the spot. And it had worked excellently as the blonde woman became immediately to a motionless state. "She is the one who has been attacking us, isn't she? The constant figure of fear and mayhem for you. Am I right? Hmm," smiling, "of course I am. She's the one who cursed you into hell."

With her back still turned to him, Christine adopted a terrified look. Her eyes overflew with tears. Judging by her reaction, Elaiel realized he had hit a critical point in the discussion. Time was running out with excessive speed but he had to remain calm and continue his delicate approach with finesse and accuracy.

The blonde woman slowly spun on her feet to face him, revealing her watery, red eyes and trembling state. "Please, don't." She begged with her voice cracking, in a completely opposite disposition than the angry one she had displayed. "I can do better, I promise. What if I work harder? Make more signings? I'll surely won't need to be in a position to refuse her extension."

Elaiel was beginning to assemble the pieces of the puzzle. "The moment the loop resets… It's when you had your grievance with her, isn't it?"

"Yeah, that's what I got to do." She admitted with determination, not minding his question. She rubbed her eyes to get rid of her tears. "I'll close the McPhearson loan sooner and startup on the other files I have." Then she rushed back to her desk and reached for her drawers to pull up several papers and documents.

"Christine…"

"If I produce better results, I should be able to offer her another extension without having to jeopardize my chances for the AM." She ignored him, continuing to concentrate on the files before her.

"Will you stop!" Elaiel irrupted, grabbing her arms and forcing her to stare at him. "Look at yourself! You're talking about planning to do something that already happened. Get a grip of yourself woman. Face the damn facts! IT HAPPENED and there is nothing you can do to change it. All of this… this made-up world… is just to stroke your guilt and depression over the past. And you can stay in it as much as you want and punish yourself until you go insane. It's useless. You will never undo what happened! NEVER!"

All of a sudden, the taps sounded off again, this time as close as they never had been. The two threw their gazes on the other side of the desk and noticed the deformed Ganush sitting on the guest chair, looking at Christine and knocking the wooden surface with her overgrown nails. The blonde woman gasped in shock but Elaiel preserved his calm demeanor. The gypsy woman was not a threat to him anymore.

"You shamed me," the older woman spoke. "You treated me like garbage and took everything from me. You are vile and cruel and you must suffer for all the pain and misery you caused me."

For a moment, Christine's face stuck on blank and she seemed like a statue, as if trying to acknowledge what she had heard, to make sense of the entire situation. She resembled her state outside, in the real world. It caused the angel somewhat of a worry, suspecting he might have done her irreparable damage. "Christine!" He called her, shaking her a couple of times to wake her up.

He breathed relieved when she finally showed signs of life and slowly began to cry. She rapidly transitioned from a gentle weep to a heavy bawl, crashing into Elaiel's chest uncontrollably, with a resigning, defeated mentality. "I'm so sorry… so so sorry…" She kept repeating through sobs. "It's my fault… all my fault!"

Without any warning, Ganush violently climbed the desk and extended her hand to reach Christine. The latter jumped a step back in fear.

"It's alright," Elaiel assured her, "it's alright. She can't hurt you. Not unless you want her to."

Christine was too apprehensive to heed his words as she continued to keep both her eyes on the other woman, shaking chaotically.

In the real world, Mungami's group was ready and set to leave. "Last chance for anyone to join us." He yelled so everyone staying behind could hear him. Not only did he not wait too long after, he added an emphatic 'suit yourself', seemingly in too much of a haste to take off, to care for whatever answer he might get, whether affirmative or negative.

"Please don't do this, Mungami!" Ana pleaded one final time. The man ignored her wholeheartedly. To her grief, it was just as she had expected…

Christine was a moment away from launching into a desperate sprint. Ganush's close proximity filled her with panic and dread. She could not understand why Elaiel was saying that there was no danger. In spite of that, she couldn't help but wonder why the gypsy woman stopped on her desk and did not advance further toward her. It was like she got stuck in that position. It was very peculiar.

"She's a figment of your imagination." The angel explained. "You have complete control over her. If you want her to stop, she'll stop. If you want her to go away, she'll go away. Just like all of this here. It's all an illusion. It's not real."

When she casted another glance at Ganush, she was not there anymore. "I know." She declared in a defeated tone. As soon as she said that, the entire simulated reality faded into the pitch black void. Elaiel knew it was over. She had finally yielded and accepted the truth. Now, the only thing he had to do is get her to wake up from her catatonic state. "Please come with me." He told her while giving her his hand.

"Where?" She asked confused.

"You know where. Back to the real world, outside."

She turned away, still expressing hesitation.

"Try to remember!" Elaiel urged. "If you're afraid of the demons, you mustn't be. I saved you from them. You know who I am."

"Yes… Elaiel." She said, uttering his true name for the first time.

"Then you know you are safe, amongst your own kind. There's no reason to hide here any longer."

"What is the point in doing that?" The woman inquired with a voice lacking any kind of will. "I did something extremely bad and unforgivable. And you were right. I can't undo it. I've damned myself for eternity. There is no point in going back to being… alive like that. I'd rather stay here."

Elaiel's reply failed to arrive as he sensed complete loss of control over his veil due to the overwhelming strain submitted to his energy and power. He was too late.

Mungami and his group were about to step outside the cavern and take the pathway that led down the mountain. Thousands of miles away, the demonic flock was suddenly aware of the human hide out and its location. Without Elaiel's veil, the avians detected with little effort the angel's presence along with their escaped prisoner and all the other souls next to them. Wasting no time, they flapped their wings in that direction, intending to viciously dispose of anyone that might stand in their way.

Back in Christine subconscious, Elaiel knew he could not force the woman to wake up without crippling her mind. She had to do it by her own free will. Something she was lacking, now of all times, in the most dangerous moment possible. The angel realized he had to talk her into it, further adding to his growing dismay, with his veil down and everything.

"Listen to me. Blaming yourself over what happened is pointless. You are not responsible for what happened to Sylvia Ganush. I know you think you are but you're not."

"But I…"

Elaiel rapidly interrupted her. "Whatever you did, you made a choice. That's what humans do. They make choices all the time. Good choices, bad choices… really doesn't matter. And it's not for others to decide whether you should get dragged and damned to hell for the choices you make. What happened to you was unnatural."

"Even though I deserved it?"

"Who is to say that you did? Are you capable or qualified in making such a judgment? Is Ganush? No, none of you are and you know that. You can't be blamed for living. You want to blame someone? Blame the fiend that came into your life and stole everything. Blame the filth that tortured you and brought you to this horrible place. Blame the vile feces that unnaturally intruded where it shouldn't have and had its way without suffering ANY KIND OF CONSEQUENCE! He is the one who deserves punishment and suffering, not you."

Christine seemed to mull over Elaiel's sayings, her slowly lit expression and the questioning in her eyes convincing him to press on. He was getting to her. "I know it's hard," he resumed, grabbing her hand. "No one should ever go through something like this. But it's high time you faced the truth. The real truth… and forgave yourself."

The woman pierced him with her brown stare blurred by gathering tears. She blinked and they dropped down her cheek…

Meanwhile, outside in the real world, Mungami, at the head of the departing group, was about to make the first step outside the cavern. Unbeknownst to him, the demonic swarm was fast approaching the location, ready to devour them all.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Ana confessed to the stranger, watching them.

Suddenly, Christine let out a sharp gasp, drawing everyone's attention. Mungami stopped in his tracks, distracted by the woman's abrupt wake-up.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Elaiel addressed flustered, having opened his eyes, noticing the large group prepared to leave. Then, he lifted his arm as before, successfully returning the veil to its active state and improving it by adding a higher quantity of energy and focus. His quick action proved to be essential for it greatly confused the flying creatures so much that they began to pick on each other in frustration over losing their target again.

Mungami sighed deeply, realizing that there was no chance to leave now that the angel was awake. He resigned and proceeded to retreat to the deeper sections of the cavern. The group gathered by him, along with Ana, approached Christine to witness the miracle of her revival.

"You did it." The Russian woman praised Elaiel overjoyed.

Christine studied her surroundings and was glad to see human faces all around her. Her gaze shifted from left to right, ceasing and setting upon the one who had helped her recover from her subconscious loop. A faint but grateful smile rounded on her lips. Seeing him in the real world and knowing that he was an angel filled her with a kind of warmth she had yet to experience ever since her nightmarish ordeal had started. She now understood that he was a beacon of hope, a light in the darkness.

Which is why the next thing he did baffled her, and everyone else for that matter, beyond belief. His expression turned angry in a blink of an eye, as he used his telekinesis to lift her in the air and slam her into the wall, pinning her there and choking her with great force.

"Elaiel!" Ana jumped perplex.

"You stupid, deluded bitch!" The angel barked from between clenched teeth. "You had me running around through your twisted, demented mind like a dog on a leash."

"Elaiel, let her go!" Ana desperately attempted to stop him.

He did not even mind her, carrying on. "Do you have any idea how much time I wasted to babysit your ass back to reality. But no more. You are going to tell me what I want!"

"He finally lost it." The stranger grinned, as if entertained by what was developing. Ana, in total opposition, was shouting emphatically to get the angel to let Christine go. The latter began releasing suffocation coughs and sounds, barely getting any air.

"Who is it? You will tell me right now who dragged you into hell! Give me the name!"

"You're killing her, Elaiel! Stop it!"

"You really expect her to talk when you're choking the living hell out of her?" The stranger reprimanded. "Where did you learn your torture? Do it professionally, for crying out loud!"

"The demon, Christine! His name, NOW!"

The blonde woman appeared to be struggling to speak. In the background, the other humans watched the entire scene with horror. But not anyone of them dared to interfere, leaving Ana all by herself to resolve the situation.

Elaiel was completely oblivious to all external stimuli. All he felt was immense fury, caused by so much delay Christine had put him through. What should have been a simple discovery of a name turned into an arduous and delicate process that lasted way more than it should. And he could not help but play by her rules, notion which vexed him greatly. But now that she was awake, in the real world, he was not forced to use gloves anymore. He had no remorse to extract the information out of her in such a brutal, violent way. He enjoyed it to some extent. "Tell me! Tell me his name!" He continued in the same manner.

"La… La…" Christine managed to utter despite the considerable force pressing against her neck. She gathered her last ounces of strength and, with an vigorous exhale, finally answered, giving into Elaiel's demand. "Lamia… Lamia…"

Elaiel, taken aback by the fact that he finally succeeded in finding out, released his grip on her. Although not too high above the ground, Christine fell uncontrollably, hitting the stone floor hard. Her immediate action was to begin coughing, a result of her neck muscles' reflexes reinitiating the normal air intake. Ana rushed to her side to help her. Her face was nearly purple and her entire body shook like gelatin, both from the lack of oxygen and from the shock of it all. It enraged the Russian woman to her core.

"You son of a bitch!"Ana screamed at Elaiel. "I should have known. You're not losing your soul. You've already lost it. You're nothing more than a dead, cold-hearted piece of rock. No wonder you're so empty. How could anyone or anything care about you enough to fill…"

The angel ignored her. Phasing everything out of his attention, he slowly walked toward the cavern entrance, staring at the endless area in front of him. Learning the identity of Ahziel's murderer grew his hatred and wish for vengeance thousand fold. He could at last put a face to his unknown target, imagining millions of scenarios to make him suffer for what he had done. He finally, finally had him. And there would be no escape. "Lamiaaaa..." He uttered through his teeth, growling like an enraged beast and clenching his fist…

* * *

Hope you guys enjoyed it. This episode style chapter is one of the most complex pieces of literature I've written in my life. Worked my ass off to get it done, and although it could have been a lot better, I'm proud of how it turned out. Thank you to anyone who has stuck by my story up until now. Really grateful for your attention and support.

Next chapter (which will be a normal 1 parter) will change the entire shift of the story and will pave the way for the final 3 chapters. The end is near.


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